OPINION – Three countries, three conferences and four months later, what we already knew has been confirmed with devastating unequivocal certainty. New Zealand is the most dominant rugby nation on the planet and as if to ram home the point, New Zealand schools, U20s, women’s and sevens teams are either at the top or not far from it.
It doesn’t get much better for the NZRU or New Zealand rugby fans – it’s also not bad for a minnow nation of 4.5 million at the bottom of the world with fewer than 150,000 registered players. How does New Zealand manage to generate such awesome rugby power? The answer to this question is a complicated matter for social and political science but the real question should be whether such dominance is actually good for the game in the long run? Where is the competition if one team/nation dominates year in and year out? Interest wanes, tickets sales go down and TV viewers shrink.
Hopefully not, but this year’s super rugby competition is a classic example of lopsided rugby concentration, half-filled stadiums, bad officiating and controversial results. Even the convoluted conference system that supposedly promotes equality between nations couldn’t ensure against a local derby final and nor should it if the best teams just happen to be from the same country. Here lies the problem.
New Zealand is a small, compact and at times, insular nation. A local derby final will be glorious for some but a non-event for others. All top players in New Zealand, many of whom are already in the All Black team are essentially brothers in arms . Fellow warriors with a common goal united under the same flag, what have they got to fight for? A hollow final in many ways, great for the locals but not so great for a wider international audience.
Local apathy won’t likely be an issue and hasn’t been evidenced so far, especially with the Cake tin selling out in 59 seconds. However the stadium fits just 30,000 people so it will be the television viewing numbers that might sway SANZAR to rethink the competition format in order to even the balance between looking after sponsors and pleasing fans. Rugby union is after all an international game and the glory needs to be spread around.
There is nothing like a fully fledged final between two teams from two different countries to stir the patriotism. With the new system a local derby as a final was very unlikely. With the very likely now a reality, there is a possibility that there may be more of these local derby Super Rugby finals. Which means SANZAR now face the quandary on their hands to keep the international fans interested and the sponsors money flowing in. If they don’t then we can look forward to more Southern Hemisphere players drifting north to the big money, the big crowds and the full stadiums. This is the irony of being the best in the world and something tells me that nothing much is going to change the status of New Zealand rugby in the near future.
Comments
4 responses to “Super Rugby Final: Why a Kiwi-Derby isn’t good for the game”
So NZ’s the “at times insular” nation even though it’s other countries that can’t enjoy rugby unless they’re involved.
Ive course other nations can enjoy their rugby without NZ buts it always going to be second rate….I presume insular means NZs closed attitude to outside influences…remember they are the only nation who picks only local players for the ABs and still wont allow nuclear power on their turf?
In any event, it’s well established there’s virtually no connection between Super Rugby and test fortunes. The first all-kiwi final came in ’98, when NZ also had three of the semi finalists. With the ABs already in a purple patch, life seemed sweet. That ’98 test team went on to lose a record five consecutive tests and finished the 3N with a donut. Provincial/club results should never diminish interest at international level.
when it comes to the ABs stats and trends go out the window because they win 9 out of 10 tests ie, 90% hit rate…you can dredge up old stats if you like but the fact remains that an all kiwi super final indicates the ABs will be stronger than ever in 2015.