ARU boss expounds virtues of battle of the hemispheres competition

[travelling_gerry]

Greg Growden | November 13, 2009

DUBLIN: Super rugby finals might soon be played at neutral venues, going to the southern hemisphere city that is the highest bidder. And a north versus south provincial championship is again on the agenda.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill yesterday said that from 2011, SANZAR wanted to transform the expanded six-team finals series, to be played over a three-week period, into an extravaganza.
The finals series would comprise the best two teams from the Australian, New Zealand and South African conferences.
''We want to turn that into more of a crescendo, like what occurs with the Heineken Cup in the northern hemisphere. We want to make that into an event itself,'' O'Neill said.
That would involve major cities bidding for the final. ''I'd like to think that might not be too far away. It is an exciting concept,'' he said.
O'Neill said the expanded Super competition would revitalise rugby in the southern hemisphere, especially in Australia. ''It might be strange that I am saying this while in Dublin, but Super rugby is the best rugby in the world,'' he said.
''It has the best players in the world. The three countries that supply the players have won all but one World Cup. It's time to understand the genie is out of the bottle and that Super rugby is our shopfront.
''If you want to go head-to-head with AFL, NRL and the A-League, you need a shopfront, and the shopfront will be 22 weeks of Super rugby, followed by the Tri Nations, where the best in the world are playing each other.
''It's the shot in the arm we need. Rugby in Australia and a number of places has probably needed a wake-up call. This competition structure will help, and hopefully we will get a style of rugby conducive to getting our crowds and viewers back.''
O'Neill said he was also interested in the leading Super rugby franchises playing against the best Heineken Cup clubs.
''I don't know whether we can harmonise the seasons. But I think we should look for a window where two or three of the best clubs in the Heineken Cup play off against the two or three best franchises in Super rugby,'' O'Neill said. Wallabies captain and former Leinster player Rocky Elsom said the concept had merit. ''Everyone would be excited about that. It would certainly settle a few arguments,'' he said.

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...615126518.html

[GIGS20]

Bugger that....all Super rugby finals played somewhere other than Perth....that's OK for finals the Force isn't involved in but..........

How the hell do you effectively hawk neutral venue finals around. The lead time required to organise such an event would mean you don't know the teams playing, and therefore the matches would all have to take place outside of the three nations.

It's freakin' ludicrous!

Keep it with home ground advantage going to the highest ranked team!

[TOCC]

actually, the Super14 is unique in that it is one of the sports which leaves it to the last minute to plan where the GF is going to be played, all other sports have it planned 12months ahead

[jargan83]

Several competitons around the world use this model a couple being the NFL, European Champions League (do the Heineken Cup use it as well). Organising bodies use it as an extra money making tool but I can't ever see it being used succesfully by SANZAR. I can't see a large crowd turning up for a Chiefs vs Force final in Cape Town. No fans of those two sides are going to travel for it as the distance and cost involved with organising such a trip on short notice would be huge. Distance between the three SANZAR nations also would make TV times a pain in the arse

actually, the Super14 is unique in that it is one of the sports which leaves it to the last minute to plan where the GF is going to be played, all other sports have it planned 12months ahead

Only because of the condition in which the higheest team to Qualify for the Final gets to host it

[JediKnight]

The finals series would comprise the best two teams from the Australian, New Zealand and South African conferences.

So mediocrity will be rewarded?

Why not use the NFL system of the top team from each conference and then the next 3 ranked teams?

[AndyS]

That was how I understood it to be...it might generally be the top two each time, but not always. Problem is that it rewards the teams in weak conferences - you could pretty much just give it to the Bulls and Sharks each year, while the Kiwi teams all nicking points off each other could mean they just end up with one team.

[beige]

Why not use the NFL system of the top team from each conference and then the next 3 ranked teams?

Yeah, that's how it will work - Growden didn't do his research obviously...

[AndyS]

There is going to be some squealing though when the implications sink in - I wouldn't mind seeing the international matches played for double points, to balance up the inevitable bias introduced by differing conference strengths.

[sandgroperrugby]

That was how I understood it to be...it might generally be the top two each time, but not always. Problem is that it rewards the teams in weak conferences - you could pretty much just give it to the Bulls and Sharks each year, while the Kiwi teams all nicking points off each other could mean they just end up with one team.

Don’t think the Cheetahs would share this point of view especially in light of their recent form in the Currie cup where they knocked the sharks out of the finals

[AndyS]

They won it in 2006 and 2007 - how did that translate to the Super 14?

[GIGS20]

Cheetahs normally do quite well against other Saffer teams actually.

The home round could work wonders for them