Better Rugby Rules

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 be argued that South Africa should be excluded from a revamped Super competition. Games in South Africa don’t suit New Zealand and Australian television audiences and the travel for teams is arduous.

The South African sides have largely failed on the field, with the Bulls’ win last year their first title, while the poor crowds they attract in New Zealand suggests Kiwis are not enthralled by the style of rugby they play.

But South Africa is a massive rugby nation and helps deliver a credible product to the broadcaster. It would not be cast aside lightly.

That said, the Tri-Nations is a tired product, with the third round added in 2006 failing to excite punters.

It should be scrapped, or radically trimmed so that tours with midweek games can be re-introduced – a concept that for now collides headfirst with a full calendar.

Ideally an international Super Six or Eight could be played two years after each World Cup with the longer tours held during the “off” years.

It might be back to the future but it’s what people want.

Club rugby can be played while the Super competition is on and flow into the domestic competition, just as the Super tournament will lead into the tests.

Read this with Wynne Gray’s Super Rugby idea HERE

I wonder if the NZRU reads this stuff?