This Year’s Super Rugby Competition Has Produced some of the most entertaining matches since the tournament began. The new conference based system means the fans get to see their local superstars going head to head more often.
While it’s always great to see games between top sides from different countries, the build up to the mid-season test series in each country adds extra spice, as the fans see how the local talent stacks up. Whether this was the intention of the SANZAR brains trust or not, it’s worked out perfectly for those of us looking on from the sidelines. It’s even added an extra dimension to the northern hemisphere, as this year we got to see how the champs Wales went playing down under. If this is a indication of whats to come in the future then Super Rugby is in good shape.
As always though, there is a negative to come out of this years tournament. That is the system that grant the winner of each conference an automatic top three placing, and home game in the first round of the play offs. As a result, the Reds hosted the Sharks, but they finished with less competition points. In fact, on points they were the last placed team in the finals cut.
Some confusion also comes from the bonus point system, so the Red’s actually did have more wins than the Sharks. What this shows us is that the conference winner system is flawed. It’s obviously something that has been implemented so that fans from every country have a team to follow in week one of the finals, but it penalises better teams who play in tougher conferences. In short, it’s simply not fair.
Bonus points also allow teams to get ahead without wins, so they should only come in to play after the totals wins are totaled.
For the most part though it’s a great format, and it’s future looks bright.