Super Rugby cull no benefit to South African teams

THERE was a sense in South Africa that Super Rugby would become a more balanced tournament after it was cut from 18 to 15 teams‚ but the stats so far do not back it up.

New Zealand retained five teams after last year’s decision to cull three franchises, while South Africa and Australia lost two and one team respectively.

The theory was that it would condense the playing depth of those two countries and improve the general standard of Super Rugby.

The culling of one team seems to be working well for the Aussies as their sides are all proving to be more competitive.

But for South African teams the situation is worse than it was last year.

So far, SA franchises‚ playing outside the country‚ have lost nine out of nine matches. The Stormers and the Bulls both went 0-3 on their Australasian tours where they played against two Aussie teams and four New Zealand teams collectively.

The Sharks are 0-2 on tour having lost to the Brumbies and Rebels while the Lions‚ with a full strength team‚ lost against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Losing in New Zealand is not a new experience, but wins in Australia have been a little easier to come by‚ particularly in recent seasons when Australia’s resources were stretched with five franchises.

Last year, SA teams won five of eight away matches in Australia. They are winless in four this season.

Winning on the road has never been easy and historically South African teams win only 29% of their matches in Australia – 55 out of 187.

In New Zealand that stat is much worse with a mere 21% winning ratio – 50 wins out of 242 matches.

The Sharks‚ with a 15-14 win over the Highlanders in 2016, were the last SA team to win in New Zealand.

Since then SA teams have lost 14 in a row in New Zealand and it is a stat unlikely to change this weekend when the Sharks face the Crusaders in Christchurch.

In the same period, New Zealand teams have won 16 of 25 matches in South Africa – 64% – to further underline that country’s dominance.

The last time an Aussie side won in New Zealand was in 2015 and 29 matches have elapsed since the Waratahs’ 29-24 win over the Hurricanes. South Africa has more players than Australia‚ but clearly playing resources at the very top of the game are stretched thin due to nearly 350 of the SA players earning a living in Europe and Japan.

While the Australians have managed to consolidate some of their resources by cutting one team from Super Rugby‚ the Cheetahs and Kings continue to exist in PRO14‚ which has left the player base as thin as it was before. – TimesLIVE