Loose Pass
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with Super Rugby, England’s women, and the definition of a match…
A messy affair
The Crusaders were crowned Super Rugby champions for the eighth time on Saturday, lending a sense of familiarity to a competition that this year has regularly felt anything but.
We were told to expect further Super Rugby expansion not two years ago. Asia, America, the Pacific Islands were all viable territories for new franchises to spring up. It was thought there might be a chance of 20, maybe 22 teams to incorporate into the next media rights contract.
Instead, it seems we’ll be lucky to have a functioning tournament at all.
The Cheetahs and Kings have now been forced by SARU into the remarkable corner of playing with the Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Italians franchises, while two of Australia’s franchises are locked in an increasingly bitter war over their looming extinction. Given that there’s a billionaire backing the Force and a bilious air around the ARU administration, don’t expect the ARU to win their fight with the Force hands down.
Meanwhile, the Rebels are, belatedly, living up to their name by transferring ownership of themselves to their local union, making it very difficult for the ARU to shut the team down as it might wish.
Fan interest and revenue has plummeted, with the curious quirks of the conference system ensuring that the Brumbies got a playoff spot by winning precisely two-fifths of their matches, ahead of the Blues and Jaguares who both won more. Few people really understand the conference system, even fewer like it. And don’t get any of them started on the way the competition breaks off for the June Tests.
Who knows what Super Rugby will look like next year? New Zealand’s preference is to keep the South Africans involved, without a doubt for the levels of competition.
But Australia’s preference is to let the South Africans head to Europe more, also a consideration for the South Africans, who feel Europe offers a more lucrative and settled market in a better time zone.
The Australian Players’ Union has suggested that a re-alignment seeing South Africa’s teams playing in Europe could lead to a scenario where teams from the Pacific Islands join. A geographically astute solution perhaps, but what happens to the Jaguares then?
It’s a mess. It’s been a mess for a while, and Sanzaar should never have let it continue as such a mess for so long.
When winning just isn’t good enough…
“There’s more time to do everything,” said England’s ladies’ captain Sarah Hunter of her professional athlete status at last month’s World Cup squad announcement.
“… the quality is better when you don’t have to rush off to get to work. It’s something I never thought would happen in my playing career.”
It turns out she thought right, more or less. England will defend their looming World Cup, trying very hard not to think about the fact that there was six million pounds in a prize pot to the England men’s team that stumbled out of 2015. In the women’s game, the defending champs and hot favourites know they will end up unemployed before a ball has even been kicked in anger.
RFU Chief Ian Ritchie has defended the decision to switch the focus from fifteens to sevens in the women’s game, noting that there are a number of the current women’s team who will simply move from one form of the game to the other.
But that is probably of little consolation to the tight five, for example, while it seems nuts that a team which has consistently beaten allcomers for a while now, is Six Nations and World Champions, should be presented with this scenario just before their title defence.
The RFU has done much that is right over the past few years, but rewarding elite achievement in this way just doesn’t fit, whatever the strategic financial considerations.
‘Quick, get the local Extra B on the phone!’
Last week’s Loose Pass quite justifiably opened fire on the decision of World Rugby’s judiciary to allow an appeal on Sonny Bill Williams’ ban infringing on his ability to play against Australia on Saturday week.
The issue was whether New Zealand’s warm-up friendly against Counties Manuakau and Taranaki counted as a meaningful match (we note with relief that the ABs didn’t try to claim it was two).
But the success of the appeal has left a lot of brows furrowed.
Evidently, according to the suits, a match is defined thus: people pay to see it and anyone sent off will face a judiciary panel. Never mind you’ve got the number one team in the world facing provincial teams two levels below. Never mind there’s unlimited subs. Never mind there’s an extra half between Counties and Taranaki after it.
No, no, it’s basically if people pay to see it and there’s a referee involved. That’s ‘meaningful’. Expect all international teams to stick a couple of friendlies against the St. Patrick’s U13C in the calendar as insurance policies henceforth…
There’s been a lot of shonky decisions about suspension lengths down the years, several players found transgressing in the domestic game given suspensions just short enough to ensure their international career – nor the aspirations of the local officials appointing the judiciaries handing down the sentences – is not held back.
But this one is the shonkiest yet. How about this for a definition of a ‘competitive’ or ‘meaningful’ match: it’s in a competition or it’s in the Test calendar. Then everyone knows when a suspension ends. Then we wouldn’t need to ‘throw money at the lawyers’, as Loose Pass reminded us last week.
Stop doing that, and you might even have the cash left over for a functioning international women’s team…
Loose Pass compiled by former Planet Rugby Editor Danny Stephens