All Blacks head coach Ian Foster has returned from his Six Nations and World Cup scouting mission apparently impressed with the quality and intensity of the rugby being played in the Northern Hemisphere, along with how engaged the French are with their national team.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the current state of the game in New Zealand.
After five rounds - a third of the way through the regular season - Super Rugby Pacific has thrown up only two or three genuine contests between New Zealand teams; the Crusaders’ defeat to the Chiefs in Christchurch in round one, the Crusaders' thrilling victory over the Blues at Eden Park in round four, and perhaps the Blues’ win over the Hurricanes in Wellington in round three.
There are reasons for the organisers to be cheerful – the ball is in play more than last year and more tries have been scored, so the entertainment factor is higher.
But we in New Zealand remain stuck in a type of phoney war of All Blacks' rest weeks - and the crowds that come with that - as evidenced by the poor turnout for the recent Blues v Force match at Eden Park.
There is a growing suspicion that the competition has never been less suitable for preparing players for international rugby.
Foster, in a wonderful understatement made during an interview with the New Zealand Herald on his return, added of the All Blacks’ preparation for the World Cup which kicks off in Paris in September: “We have made it clear to this group that we can’t afford to waste the few games we have.”
You can say that again.
The All Blacks will get only three genuine opportunities to recalibrate to the far more demanding realities of the elite level before the World Cup: a Test against Argentina in Mendoza on July 8 (which comes a fortnight after the Super Rugby final), and two Tests against the world champion Springboks – one at Mount Smart Stadium on July 15 and one at Twickenham on August 26.
They also play the Wallabies twice for the Bledisloe Cup – in Melbourne on July 29 and Dunedin on August 5 – although, as we have seen, New Zealand’s major Super Rugby rival has not recently provided adequate preparation for Tests due to their physical make-up and over-willingness to play to the All Blacks’ running strengths.
Statistics revealed on Sky's recent Breakdown programme show the time the ball is in play in matches this season is 30 minutes, 32 seconds – up 1min 12secs from last season.
There have been 8.4 tries this season on average per game compared with six per game in 2022 and 15.6 line breaks compared with 12.8; the result, presumably, of a directive issued to the match officials to keep the game moving and limit the time spent on set pieces and group meetings in front of big screens.
“It depends how you look at it,” said current (and injured) All Blacks prop Angus Ta’avao on the Breakdown when asked about Super Rugby being an adequate preparation for the Test game.
“The boys playing now are becoming acclimatised to that speed of play. When we get to international rugby it’s a bit slower, your lungs are a bit fresher, you can think a bit better – but I suppose there’s the frustration… you’re used to playing at that pace and now you’re playing at a slower pace.”
“Is France playing slower?” responded former All Black Mils Muliaina. “We’re seeing a different French outfit here. It all depends on who we’re playing.”
To be fair to New Zealand Rugby, attempting to make Super Rugby more attractive to a dwindling fan base while preparing All Blacks for internationals is a difficult balancing act – just as it is for NZR and their All Black rest weeks, a growing necessity unpopular with virtually everyone apart from Foster and company.
At the start of the season, 1News asked NZR high performance director Mike Anthony what the faster paced game could mean for the All Blacks ahead of the World Cup.
Anthony replied: "Ideally we'd hope it sets our team up really well".
"We have to get the balance right and that's the trade off for our competition - we always think about what that means for our players when they do transition to the international stage. Regardless, I think it's going to prepare our athletes well."
It's entirely possible that the balance cannot be struck and that the very thing that improves Super Rugby may ultimately hinder the All Blacks.
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