Where to for Super Rugby?

[Braveheart81]

BH, the problem is not so much when the home games are played, but the fact that there are more non-derby games this year compared to last when the hoopla about the new 15 team competition would have us believe there will be fewer. The number of derbies (Aus v Aus) remains the same at 6 for each Aus team giving a total of 12 games in the conference when last year there was a total of 15 derby games in the conference. Then there is an extra game per team against non-Aus sides, so another 4 games total in the conference. Where does this new competition schedule offer a better deal for the Aus sides over the cluster-fuck that was last year, regardless of when the games are played?

Isn't the competition exactly as it was spelled out? Home and away games against all teams in your conference and 4 games each against the other two conferences.

Clearly home and away against the Sunwolves isn't a local derby, but they are part of our conference.

I guess the improvements are all teams getting 8 home games (as opposed to some having 7 last year), playing almost all the teams in the comp (12 out of the 14 other teams) and the finals series being less contrived with all five wildcard spots open to every team and based solely on finishing order.

 

[Brumby Runner]

It won't be improved until the international travel is either eliminated or cut to a bare minimum. There will probably be more travel next year for our teams than there was this year.

And I'm sorry, but I would look forward to all Aus derbies. This year there were 15 such games. Next year that will drop to 12. I don't feel there is any benefit at all coming out of the long, drawn out process of cutting the Force.

 

[Braveheart81]

It won't be improved until the international travel is either eliminated or cut to a bare minimum. There will probably be more travel next year for our teams than there was this year.

And I'm sorry, but I would look forward to all Aus derbies. This year there were 15 such games. Next year that will drop to 12. I don't feel there is any benefit at all coming out of the long, drawn out process of cutting the Force.

No one wanted to see the Force cut. That's the reality now though.

Post 2020 hopefully we see a wholesale restructure of the competition we play in and a Trans-Tasman centred competition becomes our main professional rugby competition.

Whilst we still play in a competition with South African and an Argentinian team, there's always going to be that travel. The integrity of the competition is much better now that there aren't the 2 South African conferences and one conference doesn't play NZ in the regular season.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

Isn't the competition exactly as it was spelled out? Home and away games against all teams in your conference and 4 games each against the other two conferences.

Clearly home and away against the Sunwolves isn't a local derby, but they are part of our conference.

I guess the improvements are all teams getting 8 home games (as opposed to some having 7 last year), playing almost all the teams in the comp (12 out of the 14 other teams) and the finals series being less contrived with all five wildcard spots open to every team and based solely on finishing order.

Would have liked the season to be 2 games longer (so you play everyone) and a reduced finals series to 4,5 or 6 team system.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

What's worse is something like this could have been easily achieved with the previous 18 teams. More logical conferences etc.

I also agree. Why not just add the two extra rounds so everyone gets to play everyone else.

 

[Strewthcobber]

There's a couple of cracking Saturday afternoon/evenings this year. Games start at 1pm and go straight through to 10pm

Sat April 14
Sunwolves v Blues
Rebels v Jags
Highlanders v Brumbies
Waratahs v Reds

Sat May 12
Sunwolves v Reds
Crusaders v Tahs
Highlanders v Lions
Brumbies v Rebels

 

[Killer]

No one wanted to see the Force cut. That's the reality now though.

Post 2020 hopefully we see a wholesale restructure of the competition we play in and a Trans-Tasman centred competition becomes our main professional rugby competition.

Whilst we still play in a competition with South African and an Argentinian team, there's always going to be that travel. The integrity of the competition is much better now that there aren't the 2 South African conferences and one conference doesn't play NZ in the regular season.

I will be interested to see how the local derbies go. From my observation at the Force the derbies didn't bring the crowds. The big crowd pullers were the kiwi teams esp the Chiefs. My preference were the Saffa teams but they were poor crowd pullers too.

 

[cyclopath]

That response is really over the top. Something has gone seriously wrong with the site over the past couple of weeks.

Multiple people have pointed it out in multiple threads. It has been forwarded to the people who can do something about it. This has been mentioned in other threads. The moderators are not those people. Writing a post slagging the mods and acting entitled about not being able to post something is of no help.

 

[KevinO]

I hate the 8 team finals, should be 6. Over 50% of a comp qualifying for finals is a joke.

 

[Derpus]

Multiple people have pointed it out in multiple threads. It has been forwarded to the people who can do something about it. This has been mentioned in other threads. The moderators are not those people. Writing a post slagging the mods and acting entitled about not being able to post something is of no help.

For what it's worth i seem to lose functionality on Firefox at home, but on Chrome at work i'm 100%. Might be useful info for some.

 

[BLR]

I hate the 8 team finals, should be 6. Over 50% of a comp qualifying for finals is a joke.

Yet still the Rebels can't get in.

 

[Derpus]

Yet still the Rebels can't get in.

fuckn troll

 

[dru]

The integrity of the competition is much better now that there aren't the 2 South African conferences and one conference doesn't play NZ in the regular season.

None of which required cutting to 15 teams, let alone cutting the Force.

 

[Braveheart81]

None of which required cutting to 15 teams, let alone cutting the Force.

I agree. Surely it's time to move on though.

We've known the competition was likely to have 15 teams for 2018 since about April.

It's hard to have a constructive discussion about the 2018 competition if everything is framed around what the preferred structure would have been.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

I will be interested to see how the local derbies go. From my observation at the Force the derbies didn't bring the crowds. The big crowd pullers were the kiwi teams esp the Chiefs. My preference were the Saffa teams but they were poor crowd pullers too.

Living in Brisbane it seems the Kiwi supporters have five way reversible jerseys.

 

[ForceFan]

That response is really over the top. Something has gone seriously wrong with the site over the past couple of weeks.

The same thing is happening at The Roar. Both sites appear to be showing their true colours. Always supporting the EARU party line.

 

[Brumby Runner]

The structure of the S18 was unsustainable as we all know. But my impression is that most people were put off by the number of games played out of our time zone and perhaps blamed the structure for that result.

However, the current S15 structure really has the same result, even though at face value it looks better. Each Aus team will play 8 home games which is an improvement for a couple who only had 7 home games last year. But the additional home game is essentially the guaranteed extra match against the Sunwolves, which is neither a Derby nor a very valued match to Aus fans. But, each team will in effect play 8 games against non-Aus teams instead of the 7 played last year.

I don't really think that is the result most fans were expecting to get from the new Super Rugby structure. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I see the same criticisms about the structure at the end of next season being the same as at the end on this year's competition.

 

[Derpus]

Certain advantages from the last season to this are already obvious:

a) South Africans will have to play Kiwis before the finals.
b) the Blues can make the finals now.
c) less teams in the final who don't merit it.

 

[Killer]

Living in Brisbane it seems the Kiwi supporters have five way reversible jerseys.

yeah but only while they are winning. My memory of that last Reds V Tahs game in Brisvegas was that hardly anyone turned up? you would assume that would be the biggest derby going.

 

[Strewthcobber]

yeah but only while they are winning. My memory of that last Reds V Tahs game in Brisvegas was that hardly anyone turned up? you would assume that would be the biggest derby going.

Reds v Tahs was the biggest super rugby crowd of 2017