As if the Super Rugby format couldn’t get any more complicated, it just has.
It’s almost as if controlling body Sanzaar sits around a table every year and tries to find new ways to make life more difficult for us rugby fans!
While the quarter-finalists will still be determined in the same manner – the conference winners and wildcards – Sanzaar has announced that the four semi-final opponents are already decided beforehand.
In other words, the winner of quarter-final 1 will face their counterparts from quarter-final 4, with the other semi-final contested by the winners of quarter-final 2 and 3.
But here’s the fine print... “In a change from 2016, the semi-final draw will be pre-determined. The semi-final host teams will be the highest-ranked winners from the respective quarter-finals,” Sanzaar said.
Here’s the problem with that: it could see a team ranked as low as fifth hosting one semi-final, while the third-placed team may have to play away in the other.
If we use last season’s log standings, the top eight teams in order were the Hurricanes (1), Lions (2), Stormers (3), Brumbies (4), Highlanders (5), Chiefs (6), Crusaders (7) and Sharks (8).
Quarter-final 1: Hurricanes vs Sharks, quarter-final 2: Lions vs Crusaders, quarter-final 3: Stormers vs Chiefs, quarter-final 4: Brumbies vs Highlanders.
If the winners of quarter-final 1 had to be the Sharks, and the winners of quarter-final 4 were the Highlanders, then semi-final 1 would see the Highlanders hosting the Sharks in New Zealand.
If the quarter-final 2 was won by the Lions, and quarter-final 3 by the Stormers, the Lions would face the Stormers at Ellis Park in the second semi-final.
So, a fifth-placed side (Highlanders) would have a home semi-final, but the third-placed team (Stormers) would play away. How can that be right?
Up until last season, the Lions and Stormers would’ve had home semi-finals in that scenario.
This is just yet another blight on a competition that was once the finest provincial tournament in the world, but has been devalued year after year. It’s already a minefield for supporters, and even players, to work out exactly how to qualify for the playoffs and which teams will face other.
Schalk Burger memorably said last year that not even the players understand the format, and would prefer a return to a round-robin competition where all teams face each other.
“The conference format has been a bit complex to follow, even for the players. To be honest, you want to be testing yourself against every team,” he said.
“You also want those life experiences of travelling to play against an All Blacks-laden Crusaders side on a cold, wet night in Christchurch. You want those challenges, as they ensure you keep growing and that you remain up to speed with where other teams are.
“I know that the Stormers will be on the other end of it next year, when they play all five New Zealandsides. But again, they might miss something by not playing the Aussie teams.”
It’s bad enough that in one year, South African teams don’t face the New Zealand sides, and then they miss out on the Aussies the next year. That’s the case for the Stormers in 2017, while the Sharks will have an easier draw after their “hell run” last season.
But after coming through all of that and qualifying third on the log, how would it feel for that team if the fifth-ranked side hosts a semi-final instead? It’s just unfair, plain and simple.
We all know how much home-ground advantage means in Super Rugby. That was probably the difference for the Lions last year, if they had taken on the Hurricanes at Ellis Park instead of travelling to the Westpac Stadium in Wellington for the final.
The whole playoff qualification format is already ridiculous, which saw the Brumbies host a quarter-final in 2016 – as a conference winner – despite having the same log points (43) as the eighth-placed Sharks.
Can’t we just get every team to play each other, with the top eight reaching the quarter-finals?
@ashfakmohamed