Relegation would alter Super mindset
13 Feb 2012
JON CARDINELLI writes that with the merger option quashed and the six-franchise option unlikely, South African teams may be forced to employ conservative tactics in order to secure Super Rugby survival.
Gary Gold put it best when he described how club rugby differs in the northern and southern hemispheres. ‘In the south they play to win, whereas in the north they play not to lose,’ he said, citing his experience as a coach in competitions like the English Premiership and Super Rugby.
Gold explained that the relegation factor influenced the style of play in England, while the Sanzar nations could afford to be more adventurous as the results had no bearing on their continued involvement in the south’s premier competition.
But that could change in 2012, at least for South Africa’s Super Rugby teams.
Saru is currently wrestling with the problem of fitting six franchises into five slots. They’ve ruled out the possibility of merging two franchises, and while they hope to convince Sanzar to accommodate six SA teams, the 2013 tournament is unlikely to differ to that of 2012. The existing franchises won’t like the idea of relegation, but considering the contractual obligations, there may be no alternative.
The final decision will only be announced next month, but we already know more than we did at this time last week. There will be no amalgamation similar to that of the Cats, and there are those at the Cheetahs and Lions who will laud this decision as a massive victory. But now that the merger option has been ruled out, another scrap will begin.
History will show that of SA’s five franchises, the Cheetahs and Lions have fared the worst at Super Rugby level. The Cheetahs have performed consistently at domestic level while the Lions recently won the Currie Cup, but this has never been a true indicator of Super Rugby aptitude. Going into the 2012 competition, the Cheetahs and Lions will be the South African underdogs once again.
At the start of 2012, both sides may have held lofty ambitions of finishing in the top half of the table or even sneaking into the play-offs. Now that relegation could become a possibility, they may have to alter game plans and adjust priorities and goals to ensure that come the end of the competition, they don’t receive the chop.
Of course, it is yet to be determined whether the relegation option will be adopted and, if it is, how it would be implemented.
It could be that Saru decides to stage a relegation series after the Super Rugby season, in which case the respective teams’ Super Rugby survival would be riding on the result of two or three games. That option wouldn’t make much sense, however, as it would take place at the end of a grueling six-month competition and both teams would be without their Boks due to Rugby Championship commitments. It would also lead to the bizarre situation where coaches save their best players for the relegation/promotion series rather than risk them in the last rounds of the Super Rugby tournament itself.
If an automatic relegation option was installed, in other words if the worst South African side made way for the Southern Kings in 2013, the question would be thrown back at Saru: Why wasn’t the decision made before the 2012 competition started?
The coaches could even take it a step further and ask why the decision wasn’t made before the pre-season when tactics and other plans are implemented. These are relevant questions, because as Gold once intimated with his description of the northern competitions, the threat of relegation can alter a team’s goals and thus its style of play.
The current laws prescribe a move towards percentage play, and while the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers all differ slightly in game plan, they do prize territory above all else. The Cheetahs and Lions, while traditionally the worst SA teams in terms of results, have often employed a more expansive approach to the game. It has sometimes made for entertaining rugby and on occasion has brought them success, but how will the prospect of relegation alter the mindset in the respective camps? Results will no longer be crucial in terms of shooting for a play-off place; they may be vital for survival.
The Cheetahs showed their conservative side when they played in Cape Town nine days ago, which may suggest they are already starting to think along these lines. The Lions entertained in the 2011 Currie Cup with an all-out-attack, but it was clear that John Mitchell has installed some balance. It could be that the Lions play more to the laws in the coming season, and in doing so, improve their chances of staying in the top flight.
The Super Rugby race will be closely contested, as the length of the competition adds to the challenge.There may also be a competition within the competition as the South African teams scrap for survival.
The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers won’t take the traditionally weaker sides in their conference lightly, as they won’t want to fall into a potential relegation zone either. This could mean that the big three SA teams are also effected when it comes to selection and playing style.
Saru will announce its decision at the end of March, and if a relegation system is favoured, it will prompt a scrap that could transform the South African psyche into something resembling the mindset of European clubs up north.
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413 Comments
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13 Feb 2012, 11:07 am
@Dawn-91: @the artist formerly known as gunther-92: I have this sri-aaas “oom” that lives across the road from me and he walked over when the cops were here yesterday and told them in very colourful language that we don’t take this sort of kuk in our area and that if these okes came around again that the police will nit be required.
13 Feb 2012, 11:08 am
@Brads-81:
brads…
if super rugby was not “created to extend the existing domestic game into the professional era.”
how come it has been used to strengthen and extend the existing domestic game in australia…??
13 Feb 2012, 11:08 am
@Tacitus-100: You’ve thought this through hey?
13 Feb 2012, 11:10 am
@Tacitus-100: Naaah, give me a rottenweiller over a dobie any day
Nothing like a piece of pure dark evil suddenly coming alive and rising out of nowhere and closing it’s jaws around a skinny shin to put the fear of god in a ‘home invader’
13 Feb 2012, 11:10 am
@Brads-81:
I’d be surprised if any Hemisphere would accomadate the Saffa’s………………………….knowing what we see before us now.
13 Feb 2012, 11:10 am
Whitney Houston is currently working on her new film ‘The Bodybag’.
13 Feb 2012, 11:11 am
@Jeez-26: Correct but at least the Lions won the cc, Kings = Zero Zippo
13 Feb 2012, 11:11 am
@Brads-81: the reason why the 5 SA rugby unions enjoy more support than the 5 NZ unions is because these unions have been in existence for up to 130 years. Provincialism and competition will always ensure bumper crowds and huge television numbers for SA conference matches – the NZ franchise may ensure equality for all kiwi rugby unions but the support for these franchises is non existent.
13 Feb 2012, 11:12 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-106:
the reviews stink…
13 Feb 2012, 11:12 am
@Brads-93: whoa, all three countries accepted 4 teams each initially bud.
in fact it was less when it was s10.
why are you so angry about the possibility that saru may look north?
you guys are looking at the us and japan arent you?
13 Feb 2012, 11:13 am
What would a kings 15 for S15 look like ?/
Barry is out, Darron Nel barely out of retirement
Mbuzo/ Stick semi retired , Engels, Luke the list goes on
13 Feb 2012, 11:14 am
@stormersboy-103:
You could say that…
@Atreides-104:
The Doberman was an example. Any good guard dog will do. It’s more about warning you than actually protecting you. A Jack Russel or foxy would do just as well.
They just need to wake you before the uninvited guest gets to your room. Then all is fine. For you, that is..
13 Feb 2012, 11:14 am
@ufo-109:
I never said that?
I have an admirer.
But it’s quite amusant so I’ll let it pass.
13 Feb 2012, 11:15 am
Can someone please buy the book of Butch James so that Keo can take it off the website
13 Feb 2012, 11:15 am
@capebull-114:
Hahaha!!
13 Feb 2012, 11:16 am
Chuck Norris wears Tacitus Pyjamas.
13 Feb 2012, 11:16 am
@rangerman-88:
You seriously think the NH is an option Dangerman?
Why would they buy into this kind of bullsshit?
13 Feb 2012, 11:17 am
@cane-105: bite your tounge kiwi – do not forget that our 5 franchise teams contributes about 60% to the total SANZAR pie. That means that we are subsidizing 4 antipode teams.
13 Feb 2012, 11:18 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-116:
Hehe. Truth is, I hope I never find myself in such a situation. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t prepare for it as if it was gonna happen this very night.
13 Feb 2012, 11:20 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-113:
huh…? what you on about…?
no… i said it…
the reviews of her new movie, “The BodyBag’… stink…
should i have put a smiley behind it…
13 Feb 2012, 11:20 am
If Chuck Norris was such a badass he’s be able to come over to my office and slam my face into my keyboakvjshakvjbaslkjUIUH>JBjbudvjsdjn>JZ;
13 Feb 2012, 11:21 am
No
comment 106.
13 Feb 2012, 11:23 am
@cane-105:
Thats a bit unfair.
SA may have domestic issues, but they also have economic clout in our neck of the woods.
However. what amazes me most of the Saffa folk is the assumption the huge income would still roll in if they moved north, or up stumps and pulled out of SANZAR in a fit of pique and went alone.
It as if they assume the interest generated locally with the likes of the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers playing the Blues, Crusaders, Reds or the Waratahs would attract the same attention as playing every other week a team like the Kings, Cheetahs etcetra
13 Feb 2012, 11:25 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-122:
We should remember the deceased for their finest moments.
Come 2013, what will we remember about the Lions?
8)
13 Feb 2012, 11:26 am
@cane-105: Stroppy now you’ve won a world cup, aren’t you?
13 Feb 2012, 11:27 am
@Atreides-104:
no, rottweilers or doberman’s have nothing on bull-terriers breeds.
13 Feb 2012, 11:28 am
@Brads-123:
It’s not SANZAR most of us have a problem with. It’s the political meddling from our own damn government.
If they’d just leave us in peace, we would not need the cumbersome SARU decision making process, as we wouldn’t have to distrust central decision making so much.
The SARU management structure is a necessary evil to limit the influence that political meddling can have on the individual franchises. Rather be able to make NO decisions, than allow them to make autocratic decisions driven by political agendas.
13 Feb 2012, 11:28 am
@RL-118:
On that logic SA should do better on its own without having to carve off income to prop up its SANZAR partners.
13 Feb 2012, 11:29 am
You don’t have to teach a Staffie “7 steps to bite another dog”…
13 Feb 2012, 11:30 am
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-126: I was always a boerboel guy but had a bad experience…..varkhonde and pits are also a good bet! A mate of mine has a charcoal grey pit, what a beautiful animal, and strong as an ox…wouldn’t bump into him on a dark night if I was traipsing around someone else’s house….
13 Feb 2012, 11:30 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-122:
confusion… it’s such a terrible thing…
i’m obviously missing something here…
you cracked a joke… i thought it was funny… went with it…
no more no less…
if i stood on your funnybone… please accept my apologies…
13 Feb 2012, 11:32 am
@ufo-131:
no you fool.
It was funny.
But I didn’t crack it.
There is an impostor
13 Feb 2012, 11:32 am
@ufo-131: ELO reference?
Nice.
13 Feb 2012, 11:33 am
@Tacitus-127:
Hey, that is a given, and it is not what I orignailly commented on.
The point I raised was the observation that SA is dogged by provincialism.
You refer to the SA teams as franchises, but that is far from reality.
The SA super rugby team players are simply the elite members of the respective provincial unions.
13 Feb 2012, 11:35 am
@Brads-123: ”
“That’s a bit unfair”.”
True enough.
But how many of THEM, would have any sympathy for US . If we were so lame, as to land ourselves in the same predicament.
i.e.
5 goes onto 5 once.
But 5 divided 6 goes .83
I’m no brain surgeon for sure, but it appears Regan Hoskins ain’t either.
8)
13 Feb 2012, 11:36 am
@Brads-134:
Yes. A regional franchise in SA makes as much sense as asking Man U and Man City to combine their teams when participating in the European tournaments – Champions league I think it’s called, but I’m no soccer fundi.
Point is, the 5 main unions in SA have followings as loyal as that of Man U or Arsenal. It makes commercial sense to uses these identities in Super Rugby as well.
13 Feb 2012, 11:37 am
@Brads-128: it makes no sense being part of superrugby, we can easily afford to have an 8 team domestic Currie cup competition, with the top 4 teams qualifying for a Heineken cup type competition featuring the top qualifyying teams from the antipodes and Argentina. This superrugby is simply too long and doomed to become boring. I envy the setup that the frogs and Poms have. Packed stadiums for domestic competitions and packed stadiums for the Heineken cup.
13 Feb 2012, 11:38 am
@rangerman-80:
Mpumalanga is the Lowveld and borders Northern KZN. It actually stretches from Gauteng to KZN, but Nelspruit is closer to KZN than Gauteng.
13 Feb 2012, 11:39 am
@Atreides-125:
That’s in the past Atreides.
We all now look boldly to the future.
(Unless you are a Cheetahs or Lions fan, and it’s 50/50 your soul has been sold down the river by the SARU).
13 Feb 2012, 11:40 am
No matter how poor they might be (not even Currie Cup material), I can still see the NZ and Aus media fawning over the Kings no matter what. They will be the darling SA team in their eyes. If you are a black/brown SA rugby player you are cool and ‘IN’, Afrikaans and white then you are on the opposite end of the prejudice scale. Man, it is unbelievable how a 9% minority population is being subjected to legalised racial policies in a so-called democracy….in 2012 some 20 years after the end of Apartheid. How the western media continues to remain silent on what is REALLY happening in SA is beyond understanding. The Kings fiasco is just a small sample of the wider racialy-based social engineering well under way under the ANC government. And please don’t tell me it is justified. In SA a minority is under attack on all fronts but yet in the civilised world, everything is done to protect minorities. 800 000 Afrikaners are now very poor, many homeless but they are neglected by the government just because they are white. Silence. Strange world we live in.
13 Feb 2012, 11:40 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-132:
oh fark…!!
fooled me… but you all know that…
how the hell do i tell you and your admirer apart…??
so we’re back to nic-stealing… why did roy can the double-nic thing…?
@stormersboy-133:
hehehe…
humour…
it’s a livin’ thing… it’s a terrible thing to lose…
13 Feb 2012, 11:43 am
@cane-135:
No one expects or gets sympathy, it works both ways.
This issue about income and where it is generated is a red herring.
NZ now demands and gets a share of the income when they play tests in the NH.
Not because they earn that domestically, but because the team generates sufficient income for host nations that not playing NZ would be a bigger financial loss than ceding a portion of the income.
13 Feb 2012, 11:44 am
@ufo-141:
dunno.
It was still funny though.
so it can’t have been grantie or capo.
13 Feb 2012, 11:45 am
@Atreides-130:
yip, solid and will fight to a standstill. an intruder would have to shoot the thing to get it to stop.
if the wife has misgivings about boerbulls or pitbulls around kids then staffie’s would do just as nicely. they are a pitbull ‘light’ version, just as gamely for a fight but a lot more loyal and loving towards humans (provided you fit into the family and friends category and not the intruder one).
13 Feb 2012, 11:46 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-132:
Then the Imposter has your exact Nik.
Is this possible?
13 Feb 2012, 11:46 am
@itsamyth-140:
What a lot of bollox.
If a team is *****, irrespective of the racial mix, although they might get a sympathy support as triers, but no one will do any fawning as you put it.
13 Feb 2012, 11:48 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther-143:
13 Feb 2012, 11:48 am
@David-138: funny that, it takes me far longer to drive to nelspruit than to drive to jhb.
and its quicker from nelspruit to jhb than it is from durbs to jhb or durbs to nelspruit?
are you travelling like a crow david?
because most of the time the teams take busses i believe.
p.s. we have more in common with the people of ep than we do with the people of mpumalanga.
coastal y’dig?
13 Feb 2012, 11:50 am
Tac
If I come visit will your dogs attack me.
13 Feb 2012, 11:50 am
What’s all this nic stealing? Yurru but I’m hungover today. Some strange man in my bed so I had to sneak out quietly this AM. I am off whiskey for life.
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