A bold move has been made by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to resume with the domestic Super Rugby competition in June. This is welcome news to many rugby fans who are craving a bit of action. I think every rugby is ready for the show to go on now as we have all watched a the highlights of every game under the sun by this stage of lockdown.
Super Rugby sides returned to training today after two months of lockdown.https://t.co/k5G0B2zynQ
Super Rugby preparation have begun for kick off in June
What we have to look forward to now is 10 weeks of unbelievable show stopping New Zealand footy. A total of 20 games will be played if all goes according to plan. NZR reports that all players will be screened in order to prevent further spread and the games will be played in empty stadiums until further notice.
New Zealand Rugby release full list of fixtures for Super Rugby return
Team members will also have to minimize contact outside of team bubbles in order to prevent the virus from coming into the competition. Another regulation that NZR has brought in is that away teams will fly in and out on game day instead of staying in the away location.
Beauden Barret return to training ahead of Super Rugby kick off in New Zealand
An exciting prospect is that we may get to see Beauden Barrett in a Blues jersey for the first time, which could spice up the competition. The teams will have had a full month to prepare once the first whistle blows and all we know is that there are a lot of happy rugby fans that cannot wait to see that first line break, offload and scintillating try. So hang in there for a little bit longer and trust me my friends we will see rugby again.
Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa have historically been known for their brute like physicality and their dazzling skills. Players from the Pacific Islands have become high valued commodities in some of the most renowned rugby clubs in the world. This might be the reason that these nations are struggling to pull things together though. On 7 September 2019 the All Blacks demolished Tonga 92-7, which left the rugby world frustrated. Tonga which has such a wealth of talent just haven’t been able to pull it together. However, you look at it though should we sit here and blame Tonga or should we look at the current world rugby season set up and structure which has given Tonga very little time to prepare for their Rugby World Cup campaign.
This documentary gives a small insight into the reasons that Pacific Island Rugby struggles with players being all over the world. Video published by Pacific Rugby Players Welfare on YouTube
World Rugby Season?
What is a global rugby season? This is the idea that all teams in the world will play on the same schedule, which will allow all teams the same amount of preparation time. This does not happen however due to a split between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, who play on different schedules. All Blacks stalwart coach Steven Hansen said in the Tonga vs NZL post match press conference, “The problem that we’ve got is a calendar that doesn’t allow you to do that,” referring to the situation. Hansen offered a solution to the problem saying, “We have these wonderful ideas about growing the game but we don’t have an organisation at the top that wants to be strong enough to say ‘righto – this is what we’re doing, we’re going to have a global season.” Is it now time for World Rugby to reshuffle the playing cards and introduce a global system?
This video is a discussion about what needs to happen for rugby to develop better throughout the world. Video publish by The 1014 Rugby on YouTube
What good will a global season do?
This global rugby season Hansen is referring to would give these Pacific Island teams more time to prepare. The results of this would lead to more competitive test match rugby and also allow for more growth outside of the top tier. Hansen puts the problem the Pacific Island nations face in perspective saying, “It’s really difficult [for me] when your players play for five different franchises in New Zealand“, Hansen then went on to say, “So I can only imagine how difficult it would be when your players are playing all over the world and you’re bringing them back and you don’t have much time to prepare them.” Hansen is referring to the fact that most of the best Pacific Island players play in Europe due to the fact that there is more money in the game over there. Due to this factor, a priority is often given to the clubs, and players neglect their nations or are withheld from certain international competitions.
Video showing top 10 Pacific Island players Video published on YouTube by George Vaka’uta
With all the talent that exists in the Pacific Islands hopefully soon in the near future there will be systems put in place that will allow for these great and fierce rugby nations to rise and really be counted on the big stage of world rugby. From an outsider looking in it looks to me as though the organisations need to get it right in terms of trying to put structures in place. Systems that give nations more power to dictate to clubs about whether players can play for their nations or not. It would be great to see these great nations playing more on the world stage and seeing what they can do at this year’s RWC.
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