The Trans Tasman Super Rugby series

[Ali's Choice]

It's increasingly looking like the Trans Tasman cross-over matches won't go ahead again this year, due to COVID-19 and the fact that there isn't still quarantine free travel in both directions between NZ and Australia.

Both the NZ and Australian teams have made contingency plans, which will likely result in a 3rd round of matches in both Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU. Not a terrible outcome for Rugby fans - I'll watch them - but certainly not as exciting as Trans Tasman matches.

[Muttonbirds]

New Zealand were just throwing a bone to Australia rugby who I read were about to be taken over by a private equity firm.

That is vultures circling stuff.

How many times is New Zealand going to have to bail Australian rugby out?

[Ali's Choice]

New Zealand were just throwing a bone to Australia rugby who I read were about to be taken over by a private equity firm.

That is vultures circling stuff.

How many times is New Zealand going to have to bail Australian rugby out?

Nah, I think both unions were genuinely keen. It would have been a fun way to end the respective Super Rugby seasons.

[Muttonbirds]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago? That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

[Ali's Choice]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago. That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

Paul Cully paints a very rosy picture about Rugby in Australia;

The three big reasons rugby is looking up heading into new era
Paul Cully
Rugby columnist
February 18, 2021 — 11.54am


Super Rugby AU starts on Friday with a game between the Reds and Waratahs, a palpable sense of renewal and its unwelcome relative - the threat of another false dawn.

Yet, it should not only be the hopeless optimists among us who approach 2021 with a spring in their steps.

The reasons are many and varied but three stand out: first, the progressive law changes introduced by Rugby Australia (the best of which the Kiwis have stolen), the clever campaign to bring the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa down under, and on a more granular level the very public disciplining of Reds winger Suliasi Vunivalu this week. All of the above can be captured under an umbrella term: Australian intelligence.

That’s a concept that defined Australia in the glory days, and remains its best hope of a return to the summit of world rugby.


Of course, there is a fine line between intelligence and hubris and Australia must guard against that trap.

But ask yourself the last time New Zealand took a look across the ditch and adopted a rugby innovation a year later?

That’s exactly what has happened with the goal-line dropout introduced by Australia in 2020, and copied by NZ in 2021.

To make matters better for Australia (and worse for New Zealand), the Kiwis have also introduced a ‘captain’s referral’ rule which looks fraught with danger.

With two challenges permitted in the final five minutes (one from each side) the Kiwis have truly opened Pandora’s box and face the prospect of the closing stages of games being dominated by TMO checks launched by each captain.

Rugby Australia clearly saw the dangers and avoided it, particularly as an attacking team could build a 30-phase wonder try in the last minutes but face the agony of having a wee knock-on or forward pass in phase two of the masterpiece scrutinised after a captain’s referral. Talk about a mood killer.

Add in RA’s determination to speed up the game - and possibly reduce the role as scrums as an outcome-defining factor in the game - and Australia is on the right path to improve the viewing product (and it is a product - we should not shy away from that).

While it may be unlikely, the push to bring the British and Irish Lions later this year is another sign of the new swagger around Australian rugby.

As for the Lions, excitement levels at the prospect of the tour coming to Australia should be contained until kingpin Rassie Erasmus signals a willingness to do so.

The British were always going to be easier to impress, particularly as the rugby press must be salivating at exiting Boris’ Brexit Britain and spending a nice winter around Perth and Sydney.

But only Erasmus has the sort of capital to sell that idea to his own public, as it remains as appealing as a vegetarian diet to a Boks prop for many, many South Africans.

Nonetheless, at the very least, RA’s proposal and attitude must be winning friends in the right places with the bidding process for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

It’s smart - and it carves out a role for Australia on the world stage, as an innovator you can do business with (the same applies to the rule changes).

Third, the $10,000 fine and one game suspension for Vunivalu was emphatically clear cut.

On a human level, it was hard not feel a degree of sympathy for Vunivalu as he faced the music in a smart shirt, impeccably groomed.

Certainly, many other players must have been thinking, ‘There go I but for the grace of God’, given Vunivalu’s alleged infraction was only at low-to-mid level range of the dumb things young men do.

Yet that was the point. It sent a stark message to the rest of the playing group: ‘Don’t stuff up this chance with a new partner in Stan/Nine (the publishers of this masthead). There are already enough pork chops in the other code they show without them having to worry about rugby’.

So, where does this leave us before a ball is kicked, or a tackle made? Reasonably placed.

Tradition dictates that we must also submit predictions for the year ahead.

The Brumbies will be hard to beat, because they are so well run.

Coach Dan McKellar withdrew from a Wallabies position last year and was subsequently absent from a Test campaign that turned out to be fairly underwhelming.

So, at the end of last year he had proved his loyalty to the Brumbies and emerged with a better reputation than any other coach working in Australia.

What were we saying about smart?

[Muttonbirds]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

[Ali's Choice]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

MB, haven't you got enough threads on which to troll Aussies? I was looking forward to the Trans Tasman matches.

[Muttonbirds]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

MB, haven't you got enough threads on which to troll Aussies? I was looking forward to the Trans Tasman matches.

There will never be enough threads.

I stopped being interested in Super Rugby when Australia and SA started inventing and axing teams every season. That again highlights the Disney approach they have to the game. Zero tradition.

[Sensible Stephen]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

MB, haven't you got enough threads on which to troll Aussies? I was looking forward to the Trans Tasman matches.

There will never be enough threads.

Just get a girlfriend/boyfriend you weirdo.

[Muttonbirds]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

MB, haven't you got enough threads on which to troll Aussies? I was looking forward to the Trans Tasman matches.

There will never be enough threads.

Just get a girlfriend/boyfriend you weirdo.

Why did you chose Dwight Schrute as your avatar?

[Sensible Stephen]

One thing Australians have never been short of is swagger.

MB, haven't you got enough threads on which to troll Aussies? I was looking forward to the Trans Tasman matches.

There will never be enough threads.

Just get a girlfriend/boyfriend you weirdo.

Why did you chose Dwight Schrute as your avatar?

Because I like beets.

[Gwenno]

Are there a lot of Trans teams then?

[Dan54.]

New Zealand were just throwing a bone to Australia rugby who I read were about to be taken over by a private equity firm.

That is vultures circling stuff.

How many times is New Zealand going to have to bail Australian rugby out?

Nah, I think both unions were genuinely keen. It would have been a fun way to end the respective Super Rugby seasons.

Agree, I doubt NZR want to put the players through 3 rounds of derbies if can be helped, but don't see any other option. I really believe the RC will be held in Oz again this year, as even if there a bubble by then the Boks and Pumas won't be part of it. Perhaps no mid year tours either? Could slip in a North/South game?

[jdogscoop]

I was expecting Cully to mention the new broadcasting deal with Nine, but he didn't.

They are pumping a shitload of money into promoting the game's shopfront, the streaming service Stan. You don't have to look far to see the Bledisloe imagery on your local tram stop or Nine masthead (e.g. The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald).

If you load up Stan you'll find reams of content stretching way back over previous Super Rugby seasons, with which you can whet your appetite ahead of the season-opening double header tonight.

It's a real shot in the arm for rugby in Australia. A vaccine against rugby league and AFL, if you will.

[Ali's Choice]

I was expecting Cully to mention the new broadcasting deal with Nine, but he didn't.

They are pumping a shitload of money into promoting the game's shopfront, the streaming service Stan. You don't have to look far to see the Bledisloe imagery on your local tram stop or Nine masthead (e.g. The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald).

If you load up Stan you'll find reams of content stretching way back over previous Super Rugby seasons, with which you can whet your appetite ahead of the season-opening double header tonight.

It's a real shot in the arm for rugby in Australia. A vaccine against rugby league and AFL, if you will.

He did mention the new deal with Nine. And the fact that this was a positive piece, written in a Nine news publication, speaks volunes.

Yet that was the point. It sent a stark message to the rest of the playing group: ‘Don’t stuff up this chance with a new partner in Stan/Nine (the publishers of this masthead). There are already enough pork chops in the other code they show without them having to worry about rugby’

[Slim 293]

Stan have also just announced they'll be showing Japan's Top League...

[kiap]

Stan have also just announced they'll be showing Japan's Top League...

Schweet

[JPNZ]

I really hope the trans tasman comp will go ahead as planned. As good as NZ derby's are all teams play the same style of rugby. Its a refreshing change playing the Reds/Brumbies etc

[Salient]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago. That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

Paul Cully paints a very rosy picture about Rugby in Australia;

The three big reasons rugby is looking up heading into new era
Paul Cully
Rugby columnist
February 18, 2021 — 11.54am


Super Rugby AU starts on Friday with a game between the Reds and Waratahs, a palpable sense of renewal and its unwelcome relative - the threat of another false dawn.

Yet, it should not only be the hopeless optimists among us who approach 2021 with a spring in their steps.

The reasons are many and varied but three stand out: first, the progressive law changes introduced by Rugby Australia (the best of which the Kiwis have stolen), the clever campaign to bring the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa down under, and on a more granular level the very public disciplining of Reds winger Suliasi Vunivalu this week. All of the above can be captured under an umbrella term: Australian intelligence.

That’s a concept that defined Australia in the glory days, and remains its best hope of a return to the summit of world rugby.


Of course, there is a fine line between intelligence and hubris and Australia must guard against that trap.

But ask yourself the last time New Zealand took a look across the ditch and adopted a rugby innovation a year later?

That’s exactly what has happened with the goal-line dropout introduced by Australia in 2020, and copied by NZ in 2021.

To make matters better for Australia (and worse for New Zealand), the Kiwis have also introduced a ‘captain’s referral’ rule which looks fraught with danger.

With two challenges permitted in the final five minutes (one from each side) the Kiwis have truly opened Pandora’s box and face the prospect of the closing stages of games being dominated by TMO checks launched by each captain.

Rugby Australia clearly saw the dangers and avoided it, particularly as an attacking team could build a 30-phase wonder try in the last minutes but face the agony of having a wee knock-on or forward pass in phase two of the masterpiece scrutinised after a captain’s referral. Talk about a mood killer.

Add in RA’s determination to speed up the game - and possibly reduce the role as scrums as an outcome-defining factor in the game - and Australia is on the right path to improve the viewing product (and it is a product - we should not shy away from that).

While it may be unlikely, the push to bring the British and Irish Lions later this year is another sign of the new swagger around Australian rugby.

As for the Lions, excitement levels at the prospect of the tour coming to Australia should be contained until kingpin Rassie Erasmus signals a willingness to do so.

The British were always going to be easier to impress, particularly as the rugby press must be salivating at exiting Boris’ Brexit Britain and spending a nice winter around Perth and Sydney.

But only Erasmus has the sort of capital to sell that idea to his own public, as it remains as appealing as a vegetarian diet to a Boks prop for many, many South Africans.

Nonetheless, at the very least, RA’s proposal and attitude must be winning friends in the right places with the bidding process for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

It’s smart - and it carves out a role for Australia on the world stage, as an innovator you can do business with (the same applies to the rule changes).

Third, the $10,000 fine and one game suspension for Vunivalu was emphatically clear cut.

On a human level, it was hard not feel a degree of sympathy for Vunivalu as he faced the music in a smart shirt, impeccably groomed.

Certainly, many other players must have been thinking, ‘There go I but for the grace of God’, given Vunivalu’s alleged infraction was only at low-to-mid level range of the dumb things young men do.

Yet that was the point. It sent a stark message to the rest of the playing group: ‘Don’t stuff up this chance with a new partner in Stan/Nine (the publishers of this masthead). There are already enough pork chops in the other code they show without them having to worry about rugby’.

So, where does this leave us before a ball is kicked, or a tackle made? Reasonably placed.

Tradition dictates that we must also submit predictions for the year ahead.

The Brumbies will be hard to beat, because they are so well run.

Coach Dan McKellar withdrew from a Wallabies position last year and was subsequently absent from a Test campaign that turned out to be fairly underwhelming.

So, at the end of last year he had proved his loyalty to the Brumbies and emerged with a better reputation than any other coach working in Australia.

What were we saying about smart?

Dude we are in the honeymoon of new broadcaster Stan, News Ltd are falling over themselves painting glowing pictures of the future. The problem remains, falling viewer numbers in Oz, seriously Stan is not going to fix that.

Another season marred by Covid here in Oz, impossible to judge how successful the new coverage is going to be. For sure the NRL and AFL must be amused by the whole thing.

In essence don't be fooled by the journos, another beat up by commercial interests, we simply don't know what the fall out is going to be post covid. I would assume at least in Queensland a lot of the restrictions will be eased. Fingers crossed there.

[Zakar]

Stan have also just announced they'll be showing Japan's Top League...

Holy shit that's awesome.

[Anonymous 1]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago? That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

When both countries have so few teams it's more important than ever they both take cross-border competition as seriously as they can. It's pathetic for supporters of either country to make out they are doing the other a favour.

[jdogscoop]

I was expecting Cully to mention the new broadcasting deal with Nine, but he didn't.

They are pumping a shitload of money into promoting the game's shopfront, the streaming service Stan. You don't have to look far to see the Bledisloe imagery on your local tram stop or Nine masthead (e.g. The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald).

If you load up Stan you'll find reams of content stretching way back over previous Super Rugby seasons, with which you can whet your appetite ahead of the season-opening double header tonight.

It's a real shot in the arm for rugby in Australia. A vaccine against rugby league and AFL, if you will.

He did mention the new deal with Nine. And the fact that this was a positive piece, written in a Nine news publication, speaks volunes.

Yet that was the point. It sent a stark message to the rest of the playing group: ‘Don’t stuff up this chance with a new partner in Stan/Nine (the publishers of this masthead). There are already enough pork chops in the other code they show without them having to worry about rugby’

So he did. I just thought it might be more of a focus.

[jdogscoop]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago. That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

Paul Cully paints a very rosy picture about Rugby in Australia;

The three big reasons rugby is looking up heading into new era
Paul Cully
Rugby columnist
February 18, 2021 — 11.54am


Super Rugby AU starts on Friday with a game between the Reds and Waratahs, a palpable sense of renewal and its unwelcome relative - the threat of another false dawn.

Yet, it should not only be the hopeless optimists among us who approach 2021 with a spring in their steps.

The reasons are many and varied but three stand out: first, the progressive law changes introduced by Rugby Australia (the best of which the Kiwis have stolen), the clever campaign to bring the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa down under, and on a more granular level the very public disciplining of Reds winger Suliasi Vunivalu this week. All of the above can be captured under an umbrella term: Australian intelligence.

That’s a concept that defined Australia in the glory days, and remains its best hope of a return to the summit of world rugby.


Of course, there is a fine line between intelligence and hubris and Australia must guard against that trap.

But ask yourself the last time New Zealand took a look across the ditch and adopted a rugby innovation a year later?

That’s exactly what has happened with the goal-line dropout introduced by Australia in 2020, and copied by NZ in 2021.

To make matters better for Australia (and worse for New Zealand), the Kiwis have also introduced a ‘captain’s referral’ rule which looks fraught with danger.

With two challenges permitted in the final five minutes (one from each side) the Kiwis have truly opened Pandora’s box and face the prospect of the closing stages of games being dominated by TMO checks launched by each captain.

Rugby Australia clearly saw the dangers and avoided it, particularly as an attacking team could build a 30-phase wonder try in the last minutes but face the agony of having a wee knock-on or forward pass in phase two of the masterpiece scrutinised after a captain’s referral. Talk about a mood killer.

Add in RA’s determination to speed up the game - and possibly reduce the role as scrums as an outcome-defining factor in the game - and Australia is on the right path to improve the viewing product (and it is a product - we should not shy away from that).

While it may be unlikely, the push to bring the British and Irish Lions later this year is another sign of the new swagger around Australian rugby.

As for the Lions, excitement levels at the prospect of the tour coming to Australia should be contained until kingpin Rassie Erasmus signals a willingness to do so.

The British were always going to be easier to impress, particularly as the rugby press must be salivating at exiting Boris’ Brexit Britain and spending a nice winter around Perth and Sydney.

But only Erasmus has the sort of capital to sell that idea to his own public, as it remains as appealing as a vegetarian diet to a Boks prop for many, many South Africans.

Nonetheless, at the very least, RA’s proposal and attitude must be winning friends in the right places with the bidding process for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

It’s smart - and it carves out a role for Australia on the world stage, as an innovator you can do business with (the same applies to the rule changes).

Third, the $10,000 fine and one game suspension for Vunivalu was emphatically clear cut.

On a human level, it was hard not feel a degree of sympathy for Vunivalu as he faced the music in a smart shirt, impeccably groomed.

Certainly, many other players must have been thinking, ‘There go I but for the grace of God’, given Vunivalu’s alleged infraction was only at low-to-mid level range of the dumb things young men do.

Yet that was the point. It sent a stark message to the rest of the playing group: ‘Don’t stuff up this chance with a new partner in Stan/Nine (the publishers of this masthead). There are already enough pork chops in the other code they show without them having to worry about rugby’.

So, where does this leave us before a ball is kicked, or a tackle made? Reasonably placed.

Tradition dictates that we must also submit predictions for the year ahead.

The Brumbies will be hard to beat, because they are so well run.

Coach Dan McKellar withdrew from a Wallabies position last year and was subsequently absent from a Test campaign that turned out to be fairly underwhelming.

So, at the end of last year he had proved his loyalty to the Brumbies and emerged with a better reputation than any other coach working in Australia.

What were we saying about smart?

Dude we are in the honeymoon of new broadcaster Stan, News Ltd are falling over themselves painting glowing pictures of the future. The problem remains, falling viewer numbers in Oz, seriously Stan is not going to fix that.

Another season marred by Covid here in Oz, impossible to judge how successful the new coverage is going to be. For sure the NRL and AFL must be amused by the whole thing.

In essence don't be fooled by the journos, another beat up by commercial interests, we simply don't know what the fall out is going to be post covid. I would assume at least in Queensland a lot of the restrictions will be eased. Fingers crossed there.

Stan is a Nine vehicle so in opposition to News Ltd.

The investment in promotion is going to do a shitload more to boost falling viewer numbers in Ox than Foxtel's effort, which was essentially to sit on its hands and dismiss the game as a 'non-marquee product'.

[guy smiley]

I hope the TT comp can go ahead. Maybe that would mean a tour style fixture with managed isolation for visiting teams.


As for the goal line drop out... can you kick for touch from that? Are we going to see the emergence of 70m drop kicks?

[Thomas]

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago?

When was this? Can you remind me?

[kiwigreg369]

TT series would be great - at least as a check In for each country on the form of their domestic comp.

RA was offering NZ more of the revenue last year - if that’s still achievable the NZRU might very well need it (even if it means the comp is AU based only). If AU based I hope they spread the kiwi teams around and align them with a Super AU team.

Most alike?
Reds - Chiefs
Tahs - Blues
Burm - Canes
Rebels - Saders
Force - Landers

[Thomas]

Just loaded up Stan Sport.

LOOK AT ALL THE CONTENT! Last year's matches too!

[Ali's Choice]

Just loaded up Stan Sport.

LOOK AT ALL THE CONTENT! Last year's matches too!

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing how Stan sport operates once the season's are up and running. My understanding is that there will be no need to record games as they will be available to watch once they have been played.

[Thomas]

Looks to be the case here. There is a massive back catalogue. Every Rugby Championship match from 2018 onwards too.

I've only just scratched the surface. My wife will be happy...

[jdogscoop]

Looks to be the case here. There is a massive back catalogue. Every Rugby Championship match from 2018 onwards too.

I've only just scratched the surface. My wife will be happy...

A lazy swipe revealed games going back to 2013 and further.

[Thomas]

Looks to be the case here. There is a massive back catalogue. Every Rugby Championship match from 2018 onwards too.

I've only just scratched the surface. My wife will be happy...

A lazy swipe revealed games going back to 2013 and further.

Ohhh shit son!

[Bindi]

Looks to be the case here. There is a massive back catalogue. Every Rugby Championship match from 2018 onwards too.

I've only just scratched the surface. My wife will be happy...

A lazy swipe revealed games going back to 2013 and further.

Ohhh shit son!

Unless 2011 is there I’m not subscribing.

[Thomas]

Looks to be the case here. There is a massive back catalogue. Every Rugby Championship match from 2018 onwards too.

I've only just scratched the surface. My wife will be happy...

A lazy swipe revealed games going back to 2013 and further.

Ohhh shit son!

Unless 2011 is there I’m not subscribing.

THE ENTIRE 2011 SEASON IS THERE, COMRADE!

[deverix]

New Zealand were just throwing a bone to Australia rugby who I read were about to be taken over by a private equity firm.

That is vultures circling stuff.

How many times is New Zealand going to have to bail Australian rugby out?

Nah, I think both unions were genuinely keen. It would have been a fun way to end the respective Super Rugby seasons.

Agree, I doubt NZR want to put the players through 3 rounds of derbies if can be helped, but don't see any other option. I really believe the RC will be held in Oz again this year, as even if there a bubble by then the Boks and Pumas won't be part of it. Perhaps no mid year tours either? Could slip in a North/South game?

The reality is that (at a minimum) a franchise needs six home games just to survive...

We usually play 15 test matches in a non-world cup year. Last year it was only 6.

Each NZ franchise played 20 matches in 2019, last year it was only 7.

This 'player welfare' argument is a load of horse-shit. The players are only playing (at most) 1/3 of the rugby they'd be subject to if Covid wasn't around.

If NZ Rugby & AB Coaches are concerned about the physical toll of the NZ derbies that can simply be managed through rest & rotation. But, even having said this.. Super Rugby Aotearoa has a team sitting-out for a rest every single week because there's only 5 teams in this embarrassingly truncated farce of a competition. So the player workload excuse is pure & simply bullshit.

[grievous]

Rugby Australia will have been more than keen. They'll be desperate because the asset stripping financiers sniff blood.

Remember when the Crusaders beat the Waratahs 75-0 in Nelson a few years ago? That is indicative of the effort Australia puts into the game. Truth is Australia doesn't take rugby seriously enough and I fail to see why New Zealand should prop them up any longer.

When both countries have so few teams it's more important than ever they both take cross-border competition as seriously as they can. It's pathetic for supporters of either country to make out they are doing the other a favour.

Oz fans have never done this, Kiwis raise it every season.

[Whatever]

New Zealand were just throwing a bone to Australia rugby who I read were about to be taken over by a private equity firm.

That is vultures circling stuff.

How many times is New Zealand going to have to bail Australian rugby out?

Nah, I think both unions were genuinely keen. It would have been a fun way to end the respective Super Rugby seasons.

Agree, I doubt NZR want to put the players through 3 rounds of derbies if can be helped, but don't see any other option. I really believe the RC will be held in Oz again this year, as even if there a bubble by then the Boks and Pumas won't be part of it. Perhaps no mid year tours either? Could slip in a North/South game?

The reality is that (at a minimum) a franchise needs six home games just to survive...

We usually play 15 test matches in a non-world cup year. Last year it was only 6.

Each NZ franchise played 20 matches in 2019, last year it was only 7.

This 'player welfare' argument is a load of horse-shit. The players are only playing (at most) 1/3 of the rugby they'd be subject to if Covid wasn't around.

If NZ Rugby & AB Coaches are concerned about the physical toll of the NZ derbies that can simply be managed through rest & rotation. But, even having said this.. Super Rugby Aotearoa has a team sitting-out for a rest every single week because there's only 5 teams in this embarrassingly truncated farce of a competition. So the player workload excuse is pure & simply bullshit.

"rest & rotation"... I just had a flashback to 2007. Shudder.

[Ali's Choice]

Super Rugby Aotearoa has a team sitting-out for a rest every single week because there's only 5 teams in this embarrassingly truncated farce of a competition

Super Rugby Aotearoa was the best Tier 2 comp I have ever seen. Every match was close and the standard was extremely high. I reckon each of the franchises would have beaten the All Blacks in 2020 over a three match series.

[Shrekles]

So, is the only place we can watch NZ rugby matches in Australia is via Stan?

[Ali's Choice]

Each NZ franchise played 20 matches in 2019, last year it was only 7.

Incorrect. The Crusaders played 13 games last year, and the other four franchises played 14 matches.

[CrazyIslander]

Stan have also just announced they'll be showing Japan's Top League...

Holy shit that's awesome.

Really? Are you going to be watching any if those games?