At the start of the Super Rugby season most people would have predicted the Southern Kings finishing bottom of the South African Conference. The Port Elizabeth franchise performed admirably in their debut season. They were not expected to achieve much but they did manage two wins and a draw and only two heavy defeats. One of those losses came after fielding an under strength side.
Over two legs there was a win for each team and the Lions reclaimed their Super Rugby place by just two points. This shows that very little separates these two teams and it proves that South Africa has no business having five teams in Super Rugby. Frankly Australia cannot justify having more than three and an overhaul is needed.
Since 1996 Argentina has been largely ignored by SANZAR. The Pumas were included in the new Rugby Championship last year and I think it’s time South American clubs were included too. Southern hemisphere rugby needs a football-style Champions League and Europa League.
I propose expanding the competition to twenty teams. The five teams that would be needed to make up the required number could be the Kings and as many as four South American teams. If that is too many there should be serious consideration for a combined African team (like the African Leopards perhaps) but that can be decided in the boardroom. Alternatively the two divisions could be made of 16 teams or even 18.
The teams could be divided into two championships with the lower tier’s top two replacing the bottom two from the top tier. This should also reduce the number of matches the top players are involved in which will mean fresher bodies that make for a higher quality of rugby.
As matters stand there is talk of South Africa breaking away from SANZAR and looking at the option of including South American and European clubs in a brand new club competition.
This should tell us that the time has finally come for the International Rugby Board (IRB) to look at creating a new global calendar. Heyneke Meyer’s latest Springbok squad shows that South Africa are no longer averse to selecting overseas-based players.
Rugby is a professional sport and the best players are going to end up at the team’s that can afford to pay the best salaries. South African rugby seems to have done a good job at realising this, albeit slowly. The draconian view adopted by a country like New Zealand now belongs to a bygone era.
Fifa realised this a long time ago and the IRB should now look to make it happen. The best players are going to be based in Europe and countries like South Africa and New Zealand will not suffer as a result. These two countries act as a conveyor belt of rugby talent much like Brazil in football. The best Brazilians will end up at the Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s but because of a proper international window they always come back home to represent their country. Rugby’s time to do this has now come.