Source: Super 14 budget shock
I am an devoted rugby fan, I watch it any where and any time. Last year not so much, this year a little more as the rules are better, well the ruling of them. The ELV’s pissed me off last year, and prior.
But no matter how much I like the game, rugby in February [...]
Source: Super 14 Ladder after week 3 at 28/2/2010
As I write this, these are current for and against results of points in the Super 14. With averages.(3 games played, as at 28/2/2010)
So this is saying we can expect and average of 40 points per game (thats 20 for, and 20 against).
Thats werid ! And near [...]
Source: Super 14 cops Northern Hemisphere serve
Well I am not surprised that Stephen Jones agrees with me. He has been too tough making some judgments in the past.
Extract…
“I’ve often written of the dangers of chasing the concept of entertainment in rugby. It made a complete joke of Super Rugby and it is in grave danger [...]
Source: Chiefs, Hurricanes Set Super 14 alight
Ever seen a boxing match between two tough men, a hard punching powerful contest and then watch a ladies boxing match, light slaps and little more than a contest between two five year olds fighting in the back yard (sorry ladies, thats why you dont get the big bucks in boxing).
Well [...]
First weekend of Super Rugby… and IT’S LEAGUE !
Ha, is it or is it not !
In league the tackler must release the ball by standing up and tapping it through the legs. There is NO CONTEST, defending players can not contest this process.
I rugby union, the only thing different from the above is that the [...]
Source: Fight brewing Over NZ Rugby Changes – John Alexander
The fans, teams and media love the new NPC (or ANZC) format. After years of the old NPC format falling way, its back with a vengeance.
But…
…”NZRU rugby manager Neil Sorensen said the biggest problem with the current 14 team format was fitting it into the shortened [...]
Well done to the BULLs, I see lots of hugs and kisses after the game, well after all this was the nation that had there national team train in the nude !
Please dont tell Victor where I live, l like the teeth in my mouth to stay there ! ha !
Source: Is this Sanzar’s biggest error? – Danny Stephens
POINT1..”the whole lot appears to be such a half-measured set of improvisations that it is doubtful whether anyone is truly happy. “….
POINT2..”a fifth franchise in Australia despite some of his finest coaches and figures in the game warning Australia does not have the playing stocks. His solution [...]
From 2011 there will be 3 x 5 team conferences: NZ, AU and SA. All producing 2 teams each for a 6 team play offs (two teams from each conference).
There is already talk of expanding the conferences to 6 teams to allow Japan and another SA team into the mix. (Source: Japanese set to join [...]
Source: Wallabies go toe-to-toe with rival codes- Greg Growden
But it is after the Super season that rugby will have a critical effect on the other Australian football codes, with the Tri Nations being deliberately pushed back to the August-October period, enabling Australian rugby to have a major presence when the rugby league and Australian football [...]
Source: Frustrated players save Sanzar – Gregor Paul
..”An extended Super 15 will further decrease the importance of the provincial championship as the overlap will be greater. If Super 15 runs until early August, followed almost immediately by the Tri Nations, All Black involvement is going to be zero.”..
COMMENTS: Well wont that be fun, the first [...]
Source: Big calls needed over Super 14 impasse – Marc Hinton
Extracts..
New Zealand and Australia could split from South Africa, form a new alliance for franchise rugby, bring in Japan, possibly a presence in the Pacific Islands and start again with a blank canvas. Design the perfect season, with a heck of a lot less travel [...]
Wynne Gray – Senior NZ Herald Rugby scribe.
Source: Time to ditch SA from Super rugby – Wynne Gray
The words in this article are sourced from heaven. They should be placed on a stone tablet.
Excerpts
The tyranny of travel and time difference in this Super rugby series is one of its greatest downfalls while the seasonal [...]
Source: Sanzar to expand Super 14
Conferences are a must for the SARFU, as it reduces the unfair travel demands and long periods away on tour for them. This also would make it easier for Japan or USA teams to join in (well not by much, but its the thought that counts – Auckland to [...]
Source : South Africa ‘threatens’ to quit Super 14 – Neil Reid
I know for a fact the late and great John Drake would be pleased with this outcome, he would promote a true Australasian Cup. That would be 12 teams from NZ and 6 from Aussie going through 18 rounds of games with a 4 [...]
Source: Super-sized Super 14 the saviour – Greg Ford
Nichol said the game was at a “crossroads” with rugby needing to expand into new markets to generate new income. He said if New Zealand wasn’t at the vanguard of change it risked losing an opportunity to create the premier rugby competition in the world.
“That’s the goal [...]
Source: Unions discuss radical shakeup of NZ rugby – Toby Robson
There could be two side by side competitions.
Trans – Tasman Cup : One professional window from March to October: 14-team home and away (Nine from New Zealand, five from Australia).
Heineken Cup style tournament (to run alongside trans-Tasman trophy): Matches every four weeks with 24 teams [...]
Source: Sanzar faces biggest challenge – Dylan Clever
A revamped Super 14 (or 15, 16 or 18, depending on what the case may be) starting later and ending much later would put the squeeze on the June in-bound tests that have generally been dispiriting exercises in mediocrity, with Northern Hemisphere countries routinely sending substandard squads.
The [...]
Source: Carter’s deal a special case, says happy Henry- Duncan Johnstone
But the coach clearly doesn’t want to see a rash of players heading away on short-term deals and says measures need to be put in place to control that. [ME: ha ha ha, too late now !]
“I think you need to qualify (for a sabbatical). [...]
Crusaders win!
Yes I can honestly say this was one of the better ELV rugby games in the Super 14 season. But what did Robbie Deans work out at the beginning of the season that the other Super 14 coaches did not.
1) ELV rugby laws allows play to be very loose (non structured): Using free kicks solely [...]
Source: Struggle to give away tickets for Crusaders-Canes’ semi – The Press
Canterbury rugby officials have had trouble even giving away tickets for the Crusaders’ Super 14 semi-final against the Hurricanes in Christchurch tonight.
The Canterbury Rugby Union (CRU) and radio station More FM staged a promotion yesterday giving away a ticket with each one sold [...]
Source: Sonny Bill could switch codes within two weeks – manager
The manager of Bulldogs player Sonny Bill Williams says the Kiwis forward could walk out on rugby league within two weeks.
Former Australia coach Eddie Jones said Williams could earn up to $800,000 (AUD) a year if he headed to Europe.
Jes wayne, news that Dan [...]
Source: Finals expansion on cards - Greg Growden
..”THE expansion of the Super 14 finals to a six-team play-off next year is all but a certainty after this season’s logjam saw two form teams miss the cut.
SANZAR officials have been considering revamping the finals, with the most obvious first step being to increase the number of teams [...]
Source: Where to next ? – Jim Kayes
Extracts..
For a long time one solution had seemed simple.
Create a longer Super competition with the Air New Zealand Cup played at the same time as a feeder competition, leaving plenty of time afterwards for test matches and a decent break over summer.
There you go – problem solved.
It could [...]
Source NZHerald : Wynne Gray: Forget the world, let’s make it more interesting at home
Extract..
Let’s consider a few alternatives and start with the World Cup, which is not going to disappear. That event is scheduled quadrennially for September and October.
So in the other three years of the cycle let’s make that the time for both [...]