NPR

Corvid-19 has changed our ball game.

Will you miss it in 2021?

No

I preferred Super Rugby Aotearoa to the old SR. All the matches meant something, they were competitive and they were all played at times that suited me. In saying that I'd like to see a 10 team TT comp in 2021, with 4-5 matches every weekend. That would be awesome. But I don't think covid-19 will allow for that.

It's pretty clear where the NZ punter places the local product, so a domestic season with some sort of short mix of international championship at the end of a domestic season will do if it's available.

No, I've really liked the Oz Super rugby comp. No real desire to see it go back to what it was. All the OZ teams have been competitive, even the Force have had some decent games. And I think the standard has been improving each week, which is probably a confidence thing - it must have been hard to build confidence when you're getting flogged by the Kiwi teams every second week.

I'd be happy with a local OZ Super comp again next year. If we could add another 2 or 3 teams it would be perfect. Not sure if it would be feasible to get teams from Fiji and Japan involved? A 7 or 8 team comp with a full home and away season would be great.

SR Aot is the best club comp I've seen in many years, would like to see that retained as a distinct competition with SR Aus maybe being supplemented by a PI team or Tokyo team. Two legged match between SR Aus and SR Aot champions.

No.

Super10 was brilliant
Super Conferences was crap.

I will. Should have left it at S14, but I still loved going to New Zealand to play there as well as receiving teams like the Crusaders and Hurricanes which always made for great matches.

Some of the best games I've ever seen were the Crusaders coming to Loftus to play the Bulls (when they were good).

Won't miss the Aussie sides much.

assfly wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:33 am I will. Should have left it at S14, but I still loved going to New Zealand to play there as well as receiving teams like the Crusaders and Hurricanes which always made for great matches.

Some of the best games I've ever seen were the Crusaders coming to Loftus to play the Bulls (when they were good).

Won't miss the Aussie sides much.

Yes those clashes in the mid 00's between the Bulls and the Crusaders were awesome. Your Bulls generally got the better of us for a few seasons, especially in SA. You had such a good team, strong team. Kiwi teams were defeated before we even took the field against those Bulls teams. In more recent times the Lions have enjoyed success against Kiwi teams but they never won silverware and weren't in the same league as the elite Bulls teams.

Super 12 was best. 4 teams from each country

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am Super 12 was best. 4 teams from each country

5 Kiwi, 4 Saffer and 3 Aussie, but yeah, Super 12 was the best. Straight round robin, top 4 into the finals, easy, uncomplicated format and some great rugby.

Hugo wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:23 am

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am Super 12 was best. 4 teams from each country

5 Kiwi, 4 Saffer and 3 Aussie, but yeah, Super 12 was the best. Straight round robin, top 4 into the finals, easy, uncomplicated format and some great rugby.

No, 5 NZ teams too many. The Blues were at the bottom of the log forever, they were shit.

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:25 am

Hugo wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:23 am

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:16 am Super 12 was best. 4 teams from each country

5 Kiwi, 4 Saffer and 3 Aussie, but yeah, Super 12 was the best. Straight round robin, top 4 into the finals, easy, uncomplicated format and some great rugby.

No, 5 NZ teams too many. The Blues were at the bottom of the log forever, they were shit.

The point was that Super 12 was never four teams from each country. It was five NZ, four South Africa and three from Australia.

Jb1981 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:30 am

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:25 am

Hugo wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:23 am

5 Kiwi, 4 Saffer and 3 Aussie, but yeah, Super 12 was the best. Straight round robin, top 4 into the finals, easy, uncomplicated format and some great rugby.

No, 5 NZ teams too many. The Blues were at the bottom of the log forever, they were shit.

The point was that Super 12 was never four teams from each country. It was five NZ, four South Africa and three from Australia.

Okay. However I think 4 of each works for me. The 5th Kiwi side was shit anyway so an extra Aussie team may have been a better option.

Shanky’s mate wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:51 pmNo

Vokof nOOp.

To discuss changes to the format is not open for discussion. It will stay as is.

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:37 am

Jb1981 wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:30 am

Amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:25 am

No, 5 NZ teams too many. The Blues were at the bottom of the log forever, they were shit.

The point was that Super 12 was never four teams from each country. It was five NZ, four South Africa and three from Australia.

Okay. However I think 4 of each works for me. The 5th Kiwi side was shit anyway so an extra Aussie team may have been a better option.

A very quick skim of the table shows my that in the 15 pre conference years NZ teams came last twice (the first two years) and South African sides last the remaining 13. Some of that includes Super 14 years when there were an extra Australian and South African side from the original numbers.

Whatever the make up, the early years true round robin were the best for me.

OomStruisbaai wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 8:46 am To discuss changes to the format is not open for discussion. It will stay as is.

Yeah righto mate. Good luck with that.

OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:37 pm Corvid-19 has changed our ball game.

Will you miss it in 2021?

Certainly. Be being able to wander along to Suncorp and see a Kiwi team one week and a Saffer team the next was a central reason for my making a habit of attending soup games.

Agree Mungo. All the chest beating about the superiority of a one nation soup product is just simply an isolationist mindset. Playing the same teams over and over takes away something for me. I'll miss it.

most of us only watched super rugby for the NZ derby anyways..heck even fiji government paid money to get a nz derby here for the last 3 years..and honestly i never watched a single saffer derby in the last 5 years, not worth waking up at 3am to watch those shit but i did watch when a nz team i supported (crusaders/highlanders) played there..only watched a few handful aussie derbies (out of sheer boredom) only cause the alternative during that time was an NRl match..

From the NH viewpoint, SR Aotearoa was far superior to anything from the SH for some time. I’d be happy to see that again. I’d also be very happy to see a Currie Cup involving all the front line pros from South Africa. I’d hope that a domestic competition would be more attractive to domestic crowds and TV in Australia as well.

Current season has been the most fun in ages. Don't miss Super at all.

A short club championship after the domestic season with the top Aus, NZ and SA teams will do fine for a bit of trans-national excitement from 2021 onward.

Quade wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:46 am Current season has been the most fun in ages. Don't miss Super at all.

A short club championship after the domestic season with the top Aus, NZ and SA teams will do fine for a bit of trans-national excitement from 2021 onward.

I'd agree with that. Mistake the SH has made is not to value rarity. If Crusaders v Bulls only happens every three years or so, and is a knockout game, it's a bigger game.

Biffer wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:32 am

Quade wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:46 am Current season has been the most fun in ages. Don't miss Super at all.

A short club championship after the domestic season with the top Aus, NZ and SA teams will do fine for a bit of trans-national excitement from 2021 onward.

I'd agree with that. Mistake the SH has made is not to value rarity. If Crusaders v Bulls only happens every three years or so, and is a knockout game, it's a bigger game.

That's true, but you can't sell TV rights based on "maybe we'll see a huge clash every 3 years"

Money farks everything up.

Sandstorm wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 10:56 am

Biffer wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:32 am

Quade wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:46 am Current season has been the most fun in ages. Don't miss Super at all.

A short club championship after the domestic season with the top Aus, NZ and SA teams will do fine for a bit of trans-national excitement from 2021 onward.

I'd agree with that. Mistake the SH has made is not to value rarity. If Crusaders v Bulls only happens every three years or so, and is a knockout game, it's a bigger game.

That's true, but you can't sell TV rights based on "maybe we'll see a huge clash every 3 years"

Money farks everything up.

You’ll see huge clashes every year, just not the same ones.