Other Lions could distract NZ teams

SYDNEY: The second season of the 18-team Super Rugby competition kicks off on Thursday amid some uncertainty about the future form of the competition, the success of which offers the southern hemisphere a bulwark against the riches of Europe.

The maiden season of the new format, which must rank among the most complex in world sport, brought Argentina and Japan into the fold and ultimately produced worthy champions when the Hurricanes beat South Africa’s Lions in the final.

No such ambitious undertaking would ever be without its critics, however, and there have been calls for a restoration of the number of derbies, a cull of weaker franchises, a rejig of the conferences, and tweaks to the play-off format.

Those will no doubt get a full airing at March’s Sanzaar board meeting in London, but even if changes are agreed, they will not come into place until next year.

Rugby fans can therefore look forward to at least one more season of try-fests across four continents and 15 time zones all culminating, more than likely, with the crowning of champions from New Zealand.

Whatever hopes there are of stopping the New Zealand juggernaut may well rest with another team of Lions, the British and Irish tourists who in June and July pay their first visit to the islands since 2005.

Playing against the Lions is a once-in-a-career opportunity that could prove a distraction for players early in the season, while the physical demands on those selected to play the three Tests might be a factor at the business end of the competition.

It will be another four years until South Africa has such a distraction and hopes of bringing the Super Rugby title back to Africa for the first time since 2010 will likely depend on the performances of the Lions and three-time champions Bulls.

While Johan Ackermann’s Lions delighted neutrals with a free-flowing brand of attacking rugby last year, the Bulls are unlikely to abandon their traditional power-based game even with Handre Pollard back at flyhalf.

The Stormers have brought a skills coach from New Zealand to Cape Town to try to build more variation in their backline and they should also be in the hunt for the Africa 1 conference title and the playoff spot that goes with it.

Durban’s Sharks, under new coach Robert du Preez, squeezed into the play-offs last season but lack the depth

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in their squad to be serious contenders. It is hard to see Japan’s Sunwolves as anything more than Africa 1 whipping boys in their second season, particularly as they will face the might of the New Zealand teams for the first time.

Argentina’s Jaguares will look to mount more of a challenge in the Africa 2 conference this season after their Puma-laden squad was given a lesson in the realities of transcontinental provincial rugby last year.

Australia’s title chances are once again in the hands of 2014 champion New South Wales Waratahs with their core of test players, but the Queensland Reds, champions in 2011, will be out to spring a surprise or two after a big recruitment drive. – Reuters