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, 13:09 pm
@David-196:
bully for you, a rarity on this site I must say, but not unique.
it’s just that you seem to enjoy correcting other people all the time.
almost as much as tackler.
who is definitely a teacher.
13 Feb 2012, 13:18 pm
@Transformation
My apologies but after that long article I just didn’t have the energy to read any more… I have the attention span of a gold fish.
13 Feb 2012, 13:19 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-201:
Just on the odd occasion, rather than all the time. In Seans case I was merely pointing out his vulnerability as a super hero if he was depending on Chrome to give his posts invincibility.
13 Feb 2012, 13:21 pm
@David-203:
No look by all means.
Poor Langers needs all the help he can get.
His education was a big black void.
I’ve never known anybody to be so proud of so little.
13 Feb 2012, 13:23 pm
@David-203: .. and then you went on to misspell my name .. Shaun!!!!!
I always thought Misspell was spelt with one S
13 Feb 2012, 13:25 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-204: To many assumptions cunter
13 Feb 2012, 13:27 pm
@youknowwho-206: Based on pretty much everything that flows from that internet cafe keyboard, I’d say it’s a fair assumption
13 Feb 2012, 13:28 pm
@youknowwho-206: you mean ‘too’
13 Feb 2012, 13:30 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-204: didn’t you know, he’s as sort after in the UK as extrasmall tollie is in Philly….
13 Feb 2012, 13:30 pm
@youknowwho-206:
don’t be like that langers.
do you know that in India it is considered such an achievement to get to tertiary education that it is quite common for people who drop out (for whatever reason) to put after their name the degree they were going for and the relevant institution.
for example Raj Malipeddi BA Bombay (failed).
Shaun Langenhoven BA UWC (failed).
See it’s got a certain ring to it.
Get some new business cards done immediately.
13 Feb 2012, 13:33 pm
What’s going on here?I see I’ve got two admirers….brilliant.Will return when the nick-stealing business have been sorted ou.Enjoy my two friends.
13 Feb 2012, 13:38 pm
@David-200: nooit!
13 Feb 2012, 13:41 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-210: Like I said, too many assumptions
I was never at UWC… My sister was and my daughter is
I did attend the odd festival
13 Feb 2012, 13:49 pm
@youknowwho-213:
that’s the beauty of it langers.
you can put whatever yo want on it!
UCT Ba (failed)
Stevenage Nightschool (failed)
It’s your baby, run with it.
13 Feb 2012, 13:58 pm
@youknowwho-205:
My apologies for using the Irish spelling.
13 Feb 2012, 14:04 pm
@youknowwho-213: Where were you on Saturday evening between the hours of midnight and 6 am?
A certain Sgt. Jones would like to ask you a few questions.
Hopefully we can get this all cleared up in no time
He says you are well known there….
13 Feb 2012, 14:05 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-214: Yo Cunter.. my academic credentials seem to be bothering you.. Is the whole IQ thing still bothering you. I don’t think that you are stupid.. nooit… Psychopathic but not stupid. How many black people did you greet this weekend while holding that false smile… do you throw up when you get home after a walk in the town. The stomach tends to react first to conflicts of emotion.
13 Feb 2012, 14:09 pm
@David-215: Forgiven
@stormersboy-216: I am a superhero.. your car would not have been on bricks if I was there… it would have been on your garage
13 Feb 2012, 14:09 pm
Chipolopolo!
This city is chaos today.
13 Feb 2012, 14:10 pm
@David-215:
Now now David.
Take your medicine.
The only Irish thing about our boy langers is his logic.
13 Feb 2012, 14:13 pm
@youknowwho-217:
langers why are you so upset?
I’m sure you a perfectly qualified for your station in life.
and if you must know I am working on a very important project to improve the lives of millions of the poorest rural africans.
the only upliftment you practice is lifting your fork to your overworked gob.
13 Feb 2012, 14:14 pm
@youknowwho-218: Noted.
I’ll look further then.
Carry on…
13 Feb 2012, 14:16 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-221: Or his platform shoes…
13 Feb 2012, 14:19 pm
Where’s that fecking nic stealer
13 Feb 2012, 14:21 pm
This debacle indicates that provincialism is at the heart of SA’s mediocrity in the rugby world.
Not transformation.
13 Feb 2012, 14:23 pm
Anyways, let the Kings play in the Super 15. If you remove your provincialist hat, and put the national interest first, their inclusion can only be good for SA Rugby.
So would the rebirth of the Cats be.
13 Feb 2012, 14:24 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther-221: That confirms what I was saying… Only a psychopath can manage those kinds of contradictions. Helping the poor while sneering at their discomforts… Roebuck??
BTW, I worked in poverty relief for 3years besides my many other years of activism.. I have taken on a major project myself. It could save billions of lives. If you can make sense of this document then I will cut you in on the glory
http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp483.pdf
13 Feb 2012, 14:25 pm
@trupisero-223:
langers is still showboating in the reeboks he stole during the riots.
left foot size 7 right foot size 11.
but he’s making it work for him.
his buddies call him cornershop.
13 Feb 2012, 14:27 pm
@willievz-225: Willievz… good time to enter the discussion..
If you can make sense of this document then I will be eternally grateful
http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp483.pdf
13 Feb 2012, 14:28 pm
@youknowwho-229:
Did you write this document which are are unable to understand?
13 Feb 2012, 14:29 pm
@youknowwho-229: I honestly don’t have time for this, busy fighting the provincialist agenda which takes up far too much time
13 Feb 2012, 14:31 pm
I mean “you” are …
13 Feb 2012, 14:34 pm
@youknowwho-229: You know ahet they should do?
Do away with the traditional way of valuing countries and currencies and strip it down to the value of labour units.
Even the playing fields
You heard it here first
13 Feb 2012, 14:35 pm
@willievz-231: In you own time meneer… I am reading it while posting thought provoking comments here
@Dawn-230: I have questioned the authenticity of many of the things that I have written… self-admiration
13 Feb 2012, 14:36 pm
@Baylion-53:
It’s fabricated story from the Gumade’s kitchen of lokshens
The GLRU haven’t seen a cent from Itchkowitz and Gumade, when the dead line reached they bailed out
Same story of Terry Venables and Alan Suger regarding Tottenham ownership’s take over: Venables never came up with the funds.
13 Feb 2012, 14:36 pm
@stormersboy-233: Nope, that was Marx’s view
13 Feb 2012, 14:38 pm
@youknowwho-227:
langers my round brown friend, let’s be perfectly clear.
the only person I am sneering at is you.
13 Feb 2012, 14:40 pm
@willievz-225:
“sa’s mediocrity in the rugby world”..?..
that’s a tad strong dont you think.
unless by ‘mediocrity in the rugby world’ you mean the rugby world of oz, nz and sa.
13 Feb 2012, 14:41 pm
@youknowwho-236: Correct.
Communism is the new capitalism.
13 Feb 2012, 14:44 pm
Karl, Harpo or Groucho
13 Feb 2012, 14:48 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-238:
Perhaps.
But we should be the nr1 nation in the world.
By some distance.
13 Feb 2012, 14:50 pm
Anyways.
Solution is easy.
Let the Cats and the Kings play.
I don’t understand all the fuss.
13 Feb 2012, 14:52 pm
@stormersboy-239: They tried that in Stalinist Russia… Marx is turning in his grave with that statement.
The success of socialism is dependent on grassroots buy in and the formation of natural co-operatives… If you are imposing it then you are defeating it.
@the artist formerly known as gunther-237: Sneering at your screen?? take a picture and ask Keo to upload it so that I can experience discomfort
13 Feb 2012, 14:54 pm
@youknowwho-243: You and I both know that was Stalinism, not communism.
Big difference.
But you know all of that.
Anyway I’m just messing with you.
13 Feb 2012, 14:54 pm
@willievz-241:
agreed.
13 Feb 2012, 14:58 pm
@stormersboy-244: No worries
13 Feb 2012, 14:59 pm
@willievz-226: you must be a communist!
only the already elite are entitled to continue enjoying the Super Rugby largesse.
13 Feb 2012, 14:59 pm
@Tacitus-13:
Quite correct Tac, Hoskins made it clear he has forwarded the letter to the smaller unions and THEY need to decide how to go forward – no guesses in what they will decide.
Again it illustrates Hoskins is incapable of making decisions.
13 Feb 2012, 15:06 pm
@willievz-242:
exactly.
13 Feb 2012, 15:07 pm
@youknowwho-243:
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