Restructuring and develpment of SARU, Currie Cup, Super Rugby and the whole bangshoot.

From a South African perspective the rugby calendar makes little sense. The way the international fixtures are currently set out does not really allow for any competition to run its course to completion, it has there for been proposed that there will be a break in the Super rugby competition next year to allow the June tour window, and then the Super Rugby competition will continue.

In between all this, there is a Currie Cup that will now take a further step back to accommodate the super rugby and International fixtures.
These are the current problems facing SA rugby.

SARU administration.
Coaching appointments and reasons on why coaches are appointed including player selection policy.
Getting Franchises to work with Springbok rugby.
Currie Cup
Vodacom cup.
International windows and scheduling of all these fixtures.

These problems aren’t insurmountable, but it would need a collective focus from all participating bodies to solve these issues. Some are internal issues, others need to be dealt with at a SANZAR level and international scheduling need to be dealt with by the IRB.

SARU administration.
Recently it was announced that SARU has restructured with the merging of the amateur and commercial arms of the organisation and create a new structure more accurately focused on delivering on a revisited strategic plan.
Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU:
“And then there are the operational matters, and by year end we would expect to have a clearly defined vision and mission statement and an operational structure that speaks to SARU’s strategic goals.”
“Away from the top end of the sport, SARU is doing a lot of work at grassroots level to ensure the game’s success for future generations. The dissolving of the old commercial arm (SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd) into SARU will be significant in all this, says Roux. “Developing and fostering the game at a grassroots level had been separated out from promotion and commercial development of the game at an elite level and obviously the synergies between the two had been lost. What the change allows is the reintegration of all elements into more streamlined and focused units in which both of the former arms can benefit. We’re now in a position where the boundaries have gone and we’re much better placed to develop the game and exploit the opportunities that arise, whether they be in grassroots development programmes or in maximising returns from commercial opportunities.”
“The organisation had been divided into a professional arm, SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd, to look after commercial brands - wholly owned by SARU - which looked after amateur rugby and the development side of the game. The organisation had two governance structures and two operational heads as well as separate operations staff, although some services were shared between the two. Removing that duplication and aligning the organisation’s goals has been a significant change,” Roux explains.

The South Africa Rugby Players association recently also won their arbitration case against SARU.

According to SARPA CEO Piet Heymans, the arbitration award is a victory for players in the country. “The arbitration award confirms that the Collective Agreement is binding on SARU and that SARPA is entitled to representation on the SARU Executive Council. ” Heymans said in a statement.

What this all means for the future of SA rugby is still to be seen. It is all good and well they started with the streamlining of the operational aspects and looking toward the development of grass roots level, but yet no confirmation that the people employed by SARU are there for the good of the game.

Coaching appointments and reasons for appointing coaches including player selection policy.
SARU has to decide whether their priority is to be the best rugby team in the world, or whether their priority is to appease the politicians. They cannot do both at international level. In a sport as competitive as rugby is, the game of inches cannot be won when quality is compromised. The Springboks is an international brand and competes against the best in the world, no other country puts politics ahead of their national team.

The same principal applies to selection of the squad. Selecting just one player for the sake of representation has such a knock on effect it can destroy the team ethos.

Getting Franchises to work with Springbok rugby.
How many times have we heard that Pieter de Villiers requested a franchise to play a certain player in a specific position? How many times has there been a call of managing of players? If there is no collective agreement on what the end goal is, then SARU needs to gain control of the franchises to facilitate their ultimate requirements. If not, then the status quo will remain.

Currie Cup.
Where do you fit in your premier domestic competition? My solution, it needs to somehow form part of the super rugby competition, perhaps change the Conference system to be only domestic teams and then have qualifiers proceed to a super 12 round robin.

Vodacom Cup.
This is really only a development tool for the players not involved in the super rugby tournament. If the top 8 premier Currie cup teams are pulled into the super rugby tournament, then use this as a development tool for the other 6 provinces and add not only the Pampas and Namibia, but perhaps use this as an opportunity to bring in Kenya and Morocco as well.

International windows.
Looking at next year’s fixtures, there is not enough time to complete any tournament before the June test, there is then a 7 week gap to the Four Nations and then four weeks later the tour to Europe. Why not move the June test series by 4 weeks to July. This then means the Test series begins in July and is good preparation for the four nations three weeks later.

This allows 20 weeks for the super rugby competition in which ever format is selected beginning the first week of February.

The format of the current conference system is flawed. Change the conference format that each Conference includes only domestic teams of each country. Let them play out a single round robin and the top four teams of each conference qualifies for the super 12’s, these franchises can then play a single round robin for qualifying for the knock out matches.

This will enable more teams to be involved in the super rugby format and spread the talent to more teams as they will have more money and you won’t end up with one franchise sitting with 2 or sometimes 3 of the best players in one position.

Example.
If the 8 premier Currie Cup teams play a single round robin against every opponent, it will take seven weeks to conclude. Then the top four goes into a single round robin with the other top 4 teams of Australia and New Zealand you will have twelve teams playing a single round robin of eleven matches. Add to that the two weeks for knock out matches and you have your 20 week window filled.

Once the Super Rugby Tournament is concluded, the Winter Tour can commence after a two week preparation, then the Four Nations after another three week recovery and preparation period and then onto the European tours.

In my opinion this will reduce the number of matches played by top players, and the domestic season will be out of the way by the time the international season starts. It will also give more exposure to more teams by combining the Currie Cup Premier teams (in the case of New Zealand the ITM Cup teams) and Australia can run a Conference with how ever many teams they can muster.

The Vodacom Cup can then run during the same time as the Super rugby competition, and in all likely hood with 6 teams from South Africa and adding Namibia, Pampas, Kenya and Morocco, a double round robin competition can be accommodated.

This way we help Africa develop as well, and we can always have a promotion relegation for our two top Vodacom cup teams against the 2 worst performing super Rugby conference teams at the end of the two competitions.

Anyway just some thoughts.

Hmm, very insightful biltong.

Thanks, mate.

so are you proposing something similar to europe where the best teams from the respective sanzar domectic cups/championships get to play the super rugby which would also mean no need for the current conference system (i.e. go straight to S15 playoffs)?

Why not move the June test series by 4 weeks to July.

European sides finish their domestic competitions at the end of May and then try for some sort of June tour so that the players are released by July and can have July and August to recover before pre season in late August early September and then the return to action in September. They are unlikely to get any support from the clubs if they effect the rest periods of their star players.

I think the international game dates are also set by the IRB so moving them out of a test window could be problematic. For instance is Scotland toured SA and the games were moved out of the international window the PRL teams (English teams governing body) would almost certainly stop the release of the players playing in the English league.

whocares wrote:so are you proposing something similar to europe where the best teams from the respective sanzar domectic cups/championships get to play the super rugby which would also mean no need for the current conference system (i.e. go straight to S15 playoffs)?

No. If you look at the current situation we have two competitions running side by side.

The Super XV and the vodacom cup. What that means is the Super Xv Franchises effectively build two squads. One for Super XV and one for Vodacom Cup. Because of this the other 9 Provinces/Franchises are weakened even more because they don't have enough money. So realistically this creates a situation where we really ony have 5 strong teams.

The current conference system in my opinion is a farce becuase you don't get to play all the teams from the other countries, so it does bring up a bit of a lottery depending on which teams you miss out on. A true conference will pit the teams of that specific conference against each other and then the top teams will progress further.

The other side of the coin is because our Currie Cup has taken a back seat it now doesn't allow more teams to make money and there for hinders their development.

What is also happening is the 5 super franchises plays each other in the Super 15, and then again in the currie Cup, which is just a repeat of the former, albeit without springboks as they are on tour.

My suggestion is to increase the conferences to 8 teams per conference. Firstly this will allow SA and NZ to now have 8 teams instead of 5 teams who they can develop, and seeing that Australia don't have a domestic pro league, they can do one of two thinngs. Create another 3 teams from their amateur clubs, or pull in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, which would give them some more revenue as well.

Let these three conferences then fight it out and ina single round robin round and the top 4 teams from each nation then progresses to a 12 team single round robin from where the semi finalists then qualify. If you include the two weeks for the knock out round, it totals 20 weeks.

This way we don't need to have a currie Cup system of old.

But can then do a tournament running parrallel to the newly designed Super Rugby competition.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Why not move the June test series by 4 weeks to July.

European sides finish their domestic competitions at the end of May and then try for some sort of June tour so that the players are released by July and can have July and August to recover before pre season in late August early September and then the return to action in September. They are unlikely to get any support from the clubs if they effect the rest periods of their star players.

I think the international game dates are also set by the IRB so moving them out of a test window could be problematic. For instance is Scotland toured SA and the games were moved out of the international window the PRL teams (English teams governing body) would almost certainly stop the release of the players playing in the English league.

Sam i understand that, but that is why it is impoortant for the IRB to sit with all nations and see how the international window can work for all participating nations.

whocares wrote:so are you proposing something similar to europe where the best teams from the respective sanzar domectic cups/championships get to play the super rugby which would also mean no need for the current conference system (i.e. go straight to S15 playoffs)?

I would have thought this would be a good idea, as long as NZ and Australia were on board too. But with the lack of a proper domestic league in Oz, they would either just have to play their Super rugby teams or we would be seeing say Eastern Suburbs taking a bit of a beating.

But I do like the idea of rugby being tiered. So the best of the Currie cup would form the SA Super rugby entries for that year and then in theory the players who played well in that would play internationally. Whereas at the moment, if you are a good player in South Africa playing for the Griquas or for Eastern province, the way to advance your career is to move elsewhere. Presumably the downside of this would be that the Currie Cup would be confirmed as a second tier competition. Maybe the way to do it would be to keep the times similar to now but make it a qualifying process for the February/march after. So it could go something like:
February/March- Super rugby
April/May- Currie Cup
June- tours by NH
July/August Tri nations.

Maybe its just because I have been brought up in England, but I like the league system where any side (in theory) has a chance of making it to the top.

Bathman_in_London wrote:
But I do like the idea of rugby being tiered. So the best of the Currie cup would form the SA Super rugby entries for that year and then in theory the players who played well in that would play internationally. Whereas at the moment, if you are a good player in South Africa playing for the Griquas or for Eastern province, the way to advance your career is to move elsewhere. Presumably the downside of this would be that the Currie Cup would be confirmed as a second tier competition. Maybe the way to do it would be to keep the times similar to now but make it a qualifying process for the February/march after. So it could go something like:
February/March- Super rugby
April/May- Currie Cup
June- tours by NH
July/August Tri nations.

Maybe its just because I have been brought up in England, but I like the league system where any side (in theory) has a chance of making it to the top.

Bathman, the problem with your scheduling is that the Super rugby is already too long and by the time the currie cup comes along it is already seen as second teir because there are no springboks in it.

By having the conference system first as a qualifying process as I suggest you will have them available for both the conference/currie cup teams, and also for the super 12 part of the tournament.

And if the conference system is seen as part of the Collective of Super rugby, it would mean more exposure for an additional three domestic teams which in turn will mean more revenue and ability to hold onto players.

biltongbek wrote:This way we don't need to have a currie Cup system of old.

But can then do a tournament running parrallel to the newly designed Super Rugby competition.

Hmm, I don't think the rest of South Africa will be fine with that. In anycase, Province first need to win it again before we change it.

FerN wrote:

biltongbek wrote:This way we don't need to have a currie Cup system of old.

But can then do a tournament running parrallel to the newly designed Super Rugby competition.

Hmm, I don't think the rest of South Africa will be fine with that. In anycase, Province first need to win it again before we change it.

Fern effectively the Currie Cup IS the conference system, ust now forming part of the collective Super Rugby tournament.

biltongbek wrote:

whocares wrote:so are you proposing something similar to europe where the best teams from the respective sanzar domectic cups/championships get to play the super rugby which would also mean no need for the current conference system (i.e. go straight to S15 playoffs)?

No. If you look at the current situation we have two competitions running side by side.

The Super XV and the vodacom cup. What that means is the Super Xv Franchises effectively build two squads. One for Super XV and one for Vodacom Cup. Because of this the other 9 Provinces/Franchises are weakened even more because they don't have enough money. So realistically this creates a situation where we really ony have 5 strong teams.

The current conference system in my opinion is a farce becuase you don't get to play all the teams from the other countries, so it does bring up a bit of a lottery depending on which teams you miss out on. A true conference will pit the teams of that specific conference against each other and then the top teams will progress further.

The other side of the coin is because our Currie Cup has taken a back seat it now doesn't allow more teams to make money and there for hinders their development.

What is also happening is the 5 super franchises plays each other in the Super 15, and then again in the currie Cup, which is just a repeat of the former, albeit without springboks as they are on tour.

My suggestion is to increase the conferences to 8 teams per conference. Firstly this will allow SA and NZ to now have 8 teams instead of 5 teams who they can develop, and seeing that Australia don't have a domestic pro league, they can do one of two thinngs. Create another 3 teams from their amateur clubs, or pull in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, which would give them some more revenue as well.

Let these three conferences then fight it out and ina single round robin round and the top 4 teams from each nation then progresses to a 12 team single round robin from where the semi finalists then qualify. If you include the two weeks for the knock out round, it totals 20 weeks.

This way we don't need to have a currie Cup system of old.

But can then do a tournament running parrallel to the newly designed Super Rugby competition.

ok so you would merge the ex currie cup into a pre-super rugby conference system / pool. does it mean SA people do not care much anymore about their domestic competition ie who is the local champion?

from a french POV, it would be strange as our domestic competition is way more important than say the HEC due to its history and local rivalries. but I think for the irish and welsh it might be the other way around since they moved to a province system.

I know what you meant, but I don't want to watch 2 competitions side by side like that. The games might then be on at the same time.

And the team that doesn't qualify's springboks will then fight an uphill battle to get into the squad again.

Add to that the fact that WP, Bulls, Lions and Sharks basically are the same teams for S15 and Currie Cup whereas a team like the Cheetahs will suffer. They combine Freestate Cheetahs and Griquas for the S15 team, which will immediately inconvenience those two teams again.

Fern I am not sure I understand you. The Vodacom cup currently runs side by side with the Super rugby anyway.

Currently we have Bulls, Sharks, Lions, Cheetahs and Stormers in the Super rugby comp whilst all five of these plus the other 9 provinces including Pampas and Namibia play the Vodacom cup.

With my suggestion the only difference is that the 5 super Franchises become 8, and the 14 vodacom cup teams become six plus Namibia, Pampas and then perhaps one or two more african nations to help them.

THe other thing is the Bulls, sharks, Lions, Cheetahs and Province are not the same teams in the currie cup because their Springbos are gone.

This way that doesn't happen. Because by the time the international window opens, the domestic season is finished.

[quote="whocares]

ok so you would merge the ex currie cup into a pre-super rugby conference system / pool. does it mean SA people do not care much anymore about their domestic competition ie who is the local champion?

from a french POV, it would be strange as our domestic competition is way more important than say the HEC due to its history and local rivalries. but I think for the irish and welsh it might be the other way around since they moved to a province system.[/quote]

Of course we care about our currie Cup, but it has been on the back burner of late, because the springboks are not there and it is weakened because of it. But the real problem is the imbalance of the competition becuase 3 of the premier teams don't have the revenue streams of the other 5. having them on level footing can only enhance the competitiveness of all 8 teams, and can reignite the strnegth of the Premier teams. apart from that, at the end of the conference there is a conference winner.

Ja, I know it runs seperately.

I know exactly how the Currie cup works, I am a WP supporter in Bulls country and I am quite fancying our chances this year - Probably going to be a repeat of last year but hope it turns out differently.

The Currie Cup is all about the depth of the squads. Look at how WP played with almost their U20 team of last year, I am sure most of them will slot in nicely next year in the Stormers team.

And we always have 3 or four weeks with all the Springboks back to give it that extra kick. At the end of it, it is always between the Bulls, Sharks, Lions WP and Cheetahs with the Griquas throwing a spanner in the works every now and then.

I don't think they will change it. The Currie Cup is almost as important as the S15 - It is just the last six weeks of the CC that counts anyway. It is like -"Do your team have enough depth" And the four teams that has slug it out for the title.

Take it from someone you supports a team without a real trophy for the last decade and no, the conference cup doesn't count, not obtaining the Currie Cup really hurts us.

Historically it also holds much importance to the unions and the supporters, so I don't think it is going anywhere.

Yeah, sadly I know nothing will change, it is but a wish from a guy who isn't happy with the way things are going.

THe alternative is to withdraw from super rugby and then build currie Cup to where it was in the past.