Taking Super lessons to heart
21 Jun 2011
JON CARDINELLI writes the inaugural 15-team tournament has provided coaches with some valuable lessons with regards to future squad management and play-off qualification.
‘We’re heading into the unknown’ was the phrase favoured by Super Rugby coaches as the 2011 tournament ticked past 16 weeks. It’s certainly been a journey of discovery, and no doubt every franchise coach will do better at mapping the course of their respective sides in the 2012 competition.
While it’s out of the coaches’ control, the draw for next year’s edition is going to be crucial. Who you play and who you don’t play can influence the final standings. The team that doesn’t play the Rebels during the 2012 competition will miss an opportunity for five log points, while avoiding any one of the 2011 play-off teams could be beneficial.
Moving onto what they can control, coaches will now appreciate what it takes to finish in the top six. No side embraced the squad system during the 2011 league stages, and most of the big personnel changes were injury-enforced.
There should be greater planning for the first-phase of a 2012 competition that spans 13 games, with special attention and concession made for byes as well as travel.
Coaches say that it takes a squad to win a Super Rugby tournament, but 2012 should see this idea finally being put into practice. You won’t see players like Andries Bekker starting 15 out of 16 games next year or a stalwart of Victor Matfield’s calibre being forced to shoulder a similar workload. Teams need to contract bigger squads, and develop good alternatives for their key players.
What will complicate matters is that the format will be altered in 2012. The competition will take a break after 13 rounds as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa host inbound Test tours.
This may tempt coaches to revisit what’s worked for them in the 2010 Super 14, a competition that saw 13 league games staged before the play-offs. While there is merit in starting your best players as much as possible in the first half of the 2012 competition so as to establish a favourable log position, this policy could have long-term effects.
Many of the top players will feature for their respective teams in the Test window, and then be expected to perform at optimum in the final Super Rugby league stages and possible play-offs. It all amounts to a seven-month stint for the top players, with possibly even more minutes being accumulated than in 2011. And all of this before the Four Nations (the Tri-Nations plus Argentina) has even kicked off.
Coaches will need to adapt to yet a new structure next season, but contracting bigger squads will certainly solve the problems that have afflicted teams in 2011, and 2010 for that matter. If you play your best players into the ground, they’re not going to be around for the all-important knockout clashes.
The influence of travel also needs to be taken into account. The first game of an overseas tour as well as the first game after a tour can be testing as a team takes time to acclimatize. Better player management will ensure that teams are stronger in these games come 2012.
It will be interesting to see how Super Rugby teams adapt when the second half of the competition commences after the June Tests. The three league games could give those in a good log position an opportunity to build momentum before the play-offs. On the flipside, the break could result in a loss of rhythm for play-off hopefuls, and many teams could also be without key players who may have been injured in the June Tests.
Whichever way you look at it, every team that’s serious about winning the tournament is going to need a larger group to draw on. Planning and management has been crucial to the success of the top teams in 2011, and will be even more important in 2012.
14 Comments
21 Jun 2011, 14:30 pm
Tactical Dragons
21 Jun 2011, 14:34 pm
Of greater importance or rather interest to me will be the Currie Cup.
I have long now held the view that the Currie Cup has lost its appeal, only living up to the competition of old in the last 2 or 3 rounds and play-off’s.
Given that all our Super Rugby coaches are also coaches of the CC teams, I think even greater emphasis will be placed on developing squads for Super Rugby using the Currie Cup, further devaluating the competition.
The CC will be demoted to a development competition in all but name (as the premier domestic competition).
21 Jun 2011, 14:48 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-2: The days of the Boks playing CC rugby are over. Considering that the Four Nations starts in September 2012, don’t see how the top players will find time for the CC
21 Jun 2011, 14:50 pm
@JC(JC)-3:
Correct.
The CC will take on the importance or appeal of the Vodacom Cup.
21 Jun 2011, 14:52 pm
However, if we are to consider a silver lining, this might be the catalyst to force SA Rugby to consider a central contract system as I cannot see unions footing the bill of 12 month’s salaries for players they only have available in Super Rugby…
21 Jun 2011, 14:56 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-5:Agree re the central contracting, but Boks will still be contracted for Super Rugby franchises over period of 7 months a year (Feb to August)
21 Jun 2011, 15:01 pm
@JC(JC)-6:
I am just thinking how Boks will be pulled out mid-way (or to the end) of the Super Rugby season from next year for incoming tours.
There will be some vested interests from both SA Rugby and franchises on certain players, better to work together on that, and the only way that will happen is if they come to some sort of contractual (read financial) agreement which will apply for the period (January to August) rather than competitions (Super Rugby and Bok tours/3N) both are directly responsible for.
This will be the first time Boks will be called up in the middle of another SANZAR competition…
Permutations here is very interesting, perhaps worthwhile to investigate…
21 Jun 2011, 15:06 pm
1) Give Griquas the 6th franchise; and
2) Move the CurrieCup to the start of the season… currently known as the South African Conference of the Super Series.
21 Jun 2011, 15:28 pm
Any thoughts on making the CC/S15 into a Premier/Champions league setup?
Top 4 or 5 CC provinces from previous year qualify and the S15 is based on pools of 4/5 mixed (SA/Oz/NZ) teams that play through out the extended CC season before a quarter/semis/finals?
I don’t see why the CC has to suffer because Oz can’t keep a 1st division rugby competition going…
21 Jun 2011, 15:29 pm
Also maybe open it up to the Argies to keep their players on the same schedule for the quad nations?
4 teams from SA,NZ,Oz and 2 from Argentina? Tucaman Vs Crusaders? Anyone?
21 Jun 2011, 15:38 pm
@Frik(frikodel)-9: I like that idea very much, a-la- Heinecken Cup.
21 Jun 2011, 18:35 pm
I wonder then if we will see weaker bok/aussie and abs squads for the incoming tours ? Or maybe the overseas policy will be more relaxed and franchises resting their stars during this period. Certainly seems like a win win situation
21 Jun 2011, 19:59 pm
Too much rugby!
Not so much in the Super 15, but in general. The north and South need to find a way to sync their schedules. That a tough one though. The North won’t want to play in their summer, and we sure as hell won’t want to have to play in summer.
Perhaps 4/5 months of Regional competitions from February to June.
Then 3 /4months for international games from Aug to Now.
Splitting the season might not be great though but what else?
End of year tours don’t interest me as much anymore. Peeps tour to the south and are not at their best, andwe tour north and we are not at our best.
22 Jun 2011, 03:19 am
The Rebels AND the Lions were this year’s soft match-ups, but a year or two ago it was the Lions and the Queensland “rubble” Reds. And, before that, the Lions and the new kids on the block from Perth.
Now the Reds are the table-toppers. And the Perth Force are mid-table. The Lions haven’t moved much. The Aussies have found ways and means of fixing what’s broken and, no doubt, the Melbourne Rebels of 2012 won’t be the same deal as the inaugural 2011 version.
Where will the 2012 Lions be?
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