Coming to the end of what is probably the most fiercely contested Super 14 competition ever, one has to ask if the Super 14 is really as super, as we in the Southern Hemisphere make it out to be. In reality the competition does not have 14 “super” teams, hell, we hardly have 7. Now we are expanding to 15 teams? What we are actually doing is beefing up the race to the wooden spoon, because none of the newer franchises have any place, or chance to actually compete for the trophy.

The Lions, as officially now, the worst team in the history of super rugby, the Highlanders, the Cheetahs, and the Force could all have done better, had they only competed amongst themselves, ok, maybe not the Lions, but the other 3 definitely.

The main problem with new teams in a Super 14/15 environment is that super rugby, is not the place where you are supposed to be finding your feet. Entering the competition with a green team is sometimes very detrimental to some players’ careers, as I am sure that Danny Cipriani will soon find out, and as any Springbok playing, or rather having played at the Lions already knows.

The Super 10 was originally created to be an international strength vs. strength provincially-based competition, and it worked, very well. So well in fact, that the fat cats at SANZAR decided to add 2 extra teams. More games equals more revenue, and exactly here is where they went wrong. Suddenly we have moved away from strength versus strength situation because the franchises were all assured of their places in the competition.

The tournament however did not lose its appeal, so much so in fact, that a further 2 teams were added, and now another, SANZAR claiming that it benefits the game and that it aids rugby development. Bullshit!

Show me what inroads the Lions or the Force has made into rugby development, show me proof of any player evolving his game through these franchises? The “development” is so successful that both teams have to buy their budget empty just to remain competitive, albeit that the Lions have long since stopped being so.

It can be argued that SANZAR is innocent, and that the franchises have only themselves to blame for inadequate planning and preparation, but this is exactly what I am saying. When should this planning and preparation have taken place? How can you plan and prepare, while trying to remain a force in one of the toughest provincial competitions on the planet, does anyone actually believe that 3 pre-season friendlies are adequate?

Seeing as the Super 15 is now being extended over a longer period, isn’t there place for a 2nd tier competition? SANZAR has promised Argentina development, thusfar only South Africa has done anything in this regard, even though few if any of the Pampas XV playing in the Vodacom Cup would stand a chance of making the Argentinean National team.
However, should you split the competition in a 1st and 2nd division, teams get the opportunity to compete against teams on a more equal footing. Promotion and relegation will add to the strength versus strength attitude, and then finally you have a place for teams like the Spears/Kings, Lions and maybe even a higher profile Argentinean contingent to first prove their credentials before being dropped into the melting pot.

A further incentive should be prize money for the winners of both divisions, at the moment we have a number of perennial bottom dwellers in the league, who get smashed by the bigger franchises, losing confidence, losing spectators and all in all, losing revenue. Now a bottom-dweller has a chance at the prize, money equals development, albeit in a lesser pressure situation, and before we know it, a better prepared, more at ease Lions franchise could be competing for a place in the play-offs, and imagine what a confidence boost that will be for everyone involved.

Pushing a brand new team into a pressure situation like Super Rugby is suicide, those teams will take years to adapt, if at all possible, but reverting to a strength vs strength situation, not only gives the traditional weaker teams a fighting chance, but it also builds depth from a national perspective. In the end we have to look out for number one, which is our case is the Springboks, but in the bigger sense is Southern Hemisphere rugby.