Analysis: An open and exciting club competition is not the best preparation for the All Blacks, and the gulf to Test rugby is growing, writes Patrick McKendry.
The 30th edition of Super Rugby starts tomorrow night when the Highlanders play the Crusaders under the roof in Dunedin and the contest will likely again highlight the widening gap between the Southern Hemisphere’s premier club rugby competition and the game at the top level.
Ruck speed, ball-in-play time, attacking ambition and skill will be high, while kicking, consistent defensive pressure and the need to convert goals will likely be low.
For a refresher course on the realities of modern Test rugby one could do worse than re-watch France’s victory over Ireland at the Stade de France in the first round of the Six Nations recently because it was a wonderful reminder of the brutal pragmatism of the game at the top level.
For example, it was clear the French had targeted Ireland’s Kiwi halfback Jamison Gibson-Park as an influential figure who could be challenged by direct physicality and so they ran at him or over him with almost frightening regularity. Even his gifted opposite Antoine Dupont got in on the act at one point.
And it will bear little resemblance to what plays out at Forsyth Barr Stadium when the competition’s reigning champions take on a Highlanders team still reeling from the season-ending injuries to All Black Fabian Holland and promising halfback Dylan Pledger.
Anyone questioning why this widening gap is significant should cast their minds back to New Zealand Rugby’s recent statement that the new All Blacks head coach must have international coaching experience.
It was an admission, after Scott Robertson took the Crusaders to seven consecutive titles before being winning the big job, that their own top rugby competition is no longer fit for purpose in terms of preparing a competent leader of their most important team.
To be fair, the organisation is in an almost impossible bind. On the one hand it must attempt to prepare its players for Test rugby while making the Super Rugby product as entertaining as possible for broadcast dollars and attracting and engaging new players and supporters. The reality is the two goals are not necessarily compatible and, furthermore, there are no obvious solutions to bring them closer together.
The recent law variations aimed at speeding up the game further, while pragmatic and largely necessarily, will only add to this sense that the gulf is growing.
They come after similar moves in 2023 – a World Cup year, no less.
Back then, goalkicking shot clocks (now standard in Tests), and time limits on scrums and lineouts were introduced.
During the media briefing outlining the changes, I asked NZ Rugby’s then head of high performance Mike Anthony about the timing only months out from the World Cup in Paris.
"Ideally we'd hope it sets our team up really well [for the World Cup]," he said.
"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 may or may not be significant but Anthony is no longer with NZ Rugby, and the organisation not only needs to find a replacement for him and Robertson, but also former chief executive Mark Robinson.
The Crusaders, after what by their standards was a terrible blip in 2024, will likely kick off as favourites again, with the Chiefs, losing finalists for the last three years, hoping to break through under new coach Jono Gibbes.
The Crusaders, coached by Rob Penney in his final year at the franchise, are by far the most successful in the competition with 13 titles. The Blues are the next best with four.
A final observation: even red and black fans may be wary about a Crusaders success next year because every time their franchise has won a Super Rugby title in a World Cup year (1999, 2019, 2023), their southern rivals have triumphed in the big show: South Africa twice and Australia once.
From a New Zealand rugby fan's perspective, an intervention by the Chiefs, Blues, Hurricanes or Highlanders next year may be mandatory.
Super Rugby champions in World Cup years
1999 champions Crusaders/ RWC winners Australia
2003 champions Blues/ RWC winners England
2007 champions Bulls/RWC winners South Africa
2011 champions Reds/RWC winners New Zealand
2015 champions Highlanders/RWC winners New Zealand
2019 champions Crusaders/RWC winners South Africa
2023 champions Crusaders/RWC winners South Africa
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