The new Super 15 format is kind of bullshit..

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Ranger, I completely agree with you that the Lions and Cheetahs are not as good as the Sharks, Bulls and Stormers. However, the way the Lions have recovered from the transfers, injuries and other bad luck is amazing considering their results in the 2010 Currie Cup. Compared to the team they had in the Super14 there have been a lot of changes.

There is a small chance they will make the play-offs but the Cheetahs and Lions are stronger now than they were beginning of the year. I am getting very excited about the new season. I feel the Sharks can do so much better than last year when they had a horrible start, the Stormers and Bulls haven't gotton any weaker since their final. It's going to be completely different but nice to see how it works out.

I don't know if it was here or somewhere else but someone suggested a promotion/relegation system where the teams qualify for the Super15 in their domnestic league.This way the Griquas for instance can qualify. The problem is that for Super Rugby there's a whole different set up. The teams are franchises build up from several teams. If they decide to come up with a system like this might cause a loss of quality in the Super Rugby since the teams are not the best of the province.

For instance, Riaan Viljoen and Bjorn Basson are playing for the Griquas but in Super Rugby they represent the Cheetahs. The only team that is the same in domnestic league and Super Rugby is the Natal Sharks. They pull all their players from the provincial club.

I like the idea but I don't think it's even remotely possible to introduce.

 

[User1245]

I honestly don't know how to feel about this new format. One thing is for certain and that it's MUCH more dynamic and unpredictable than the previous years.
Not so sure about that concept of not playing 2 randomly picked overseas teams. Could give some teams a big advantage over other teams. Also not sure it's completely random selection, or if it's predetermined for traveling issues or whatever.
I am excited but thinking about how it's all gonna work is stressing my brain though. Not very easy to conceptualize.

 

[Shaggy]

I honestly don't know how to feel about this new format. One thing is for certain and that it's MUCH more dynamic and unpredictable than the previous years.
Not so sure about that concept of not playing 2 randomly picked overseas teams. Could give some teams a big advantage over other teams. Also not sure it's completely random selection, or if it's predetermined for traveling issues or whatever.
I am excited but thinking about how it's all gonna work is stressing my brain though. Not very easy to conceptualize.

I agree that it will be more unpredictable under this format, particularly as it's also in a world cup year ... it will be interesting to see what happens in regard to the availability of the test/RWC squad players in each country ... Henry has suggested that the AB players miss two matches in addition to the two week bye that all sides get, Tim Noakes suggesting that the Bok players not playing the local derbies etc ... it will definitely test the whole squads when yiou take the injuries that are bound to happen

 

[Seaton]

All teams have their issues, I just don't believe that the Cheetahs and Lions are anywhere near the quality of the Stormers and Bulls.

Why i asked about something making them more effective is because they have been pretty horrible, what has changed to make them a better side?

, i will say however that Currie Cup form and Super rugby form are two entirely different matters that don't necessarily translate....

I agree, I never said the Cheetahs or Lions are as good as them, I simply said they are not as shite as some would would say, evidenced by the fact that they can cause upsets.

Once again, never really said anything has changed to make them more effective. However, if I were, then I would say that both teams are finally learning, the hard way, to only use long, water-tight contracts when sign/re-signing players (As they have both been royally shat on by the Sharks and Stormers this past season on this regard)

Agree with you there, however they are an indication of how a team will perform, where problem areas lie, how said problems can be fixed and so on, who key players are and so on.
Don't no enough about NZ domestic rugby to comment on your comment

 

[Derpaderp]

Im not sure why people think this new system is so unfair because at the end of the day the Crusaders and Bulls will make the finals for the rest of eternity no matter what system is in place and the other teams will continue to make up the numbers,The Crusaders and Bulls are the only realistic chances of winning each year,the other choking no hopers will continue to falter.





This comp is all about the Crusaders and Bulls no matter what system is in place,none of the other no hoper teams will ever win it.

 

[nickdnz]

Im not sure why people think this new system is so unfair because at the end of the day the Crusaders and Bulls will make the finals for the rest of eternity no matter what system is in place and the other teams will continue to make up the numbers,The Crusaders and Bulls are the only realistic chances of winning each year,the other choking no hopers will continue to falter.





This comp is all about the Crusaders and Bulls no matter what system is in place,none of the other no hoper teams will ever win it.

Riiigghht. Can we expect all of your upcoming posts to be of this quality?

 

[ranger]

Im not sure why people think this new system is so unfair because at the end of the day the Crusaders and Bulls will make the finals for the rest of eternity no matter what system is in place and the other teams will continue to make up the numbers,The Crusaders and Bulls are the only realistic chances of winning each year,the other choking no hopers will continue to falter.




This comp is all about the Crusaders and Bulls no matter what system is in place,none of the other no hoper teams will ever win it.

Derpaderp aye?... appropriate.

You realize both the Crusaders and Bulls have been wooden spooners before in Super rugby's short history. I remember back when playing the Bulls was almost a guaranteed win.. the good old days.

 

[Sker]

I miss those days, Bulls supporters are intolerable ...... .... little .... here

 

[wallwalson74]

while i do believe that some teams are at a disadvantage, if you want to be the top team you should be able to beat the other top teams. so quit whining about missing lower teams and enjoy a longer, better super rugby comp!

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Funny how someone from Australia says so since you guys only have the Super15

In SA and NZ we've had a long rugby season for years now with the ITM and Currie Cup

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Ranger, I completely agree with you that the Lions and Cheetahs are not as good as the Sharks, Bulls and Stormers. However, the way the Lions have recovered from the transfers, injuries and other bad luck is amazing considering their results in the 2010 Currie Cup. Compared to the team they had in the Super14 there have been a lot of changes.

There is a small chance they will make the play-offs but the Cheetahs and Lions are stronger now than they were beginning of the year. I am getting very excited about the new season. I feel the Sharks can do so much better than last year when they had a horrible start, the Stormers and Bulls haven't gotton any weaker since their final. It's going to be completely different but nice to see how it works out.

I don't know if it was here or somewhere else but someone suggested a promotion/relegation system where the teams qualify for the Super15 in their domnestic league.This way the Griquas for instance can qualify. The problem is that for Super Rugby there's a whole different set up. The teams are franchises build up from several teams. If they decide to come up with a system like this might cause a loss of quality in the Super Rugby since the teams are not the best of the province.

For instance, Riaan Viljoen and Bjorn Basson are playing for the Griquas but in Super Rugby they represent the Cheetahs. The only team that is the same in domnestic league and Super Rugby is the Natal Sharks. They pull all their players from the provincial club.

I like the idea but I don't think it's even remotely possible to introduce.

All SA teams are stronger (especially Sharks and Lions) except for the Cheetahs. They lost half their 1st choice backline during this year: 12Bosman, 10Potgieter, 11/13Mapoe, 14Basson to the Bulls and Sharks. Pity, they were starting to show some good form towards the end, especially with Juan SMith back. Imagine Brussouw joining in and them actually signing a few good backline players instead of losing them...

As a WP supporter I would actualy want them to sign or at least borrow a few of our centers. I mean, if we keep JdV, Fourie and JdJ there is still Tim Whitehead, Paul Bosch, Morgan newman, des Fountain, Marcel Brache, frikkie Welsch. Pick two and they would probably walk into the Cheetahs 12 jersey. Robert Ebersohn is allright, though.

I agree, I never said the Cheetahs or Lions are as good as them, I simply said they are not as shite as some would would say, evidenced by the fact that they can cause upsets.

Once again, never really said anything has changed to make them more effective. However, if I were, then I would say that both teams are finally learning, the hard way, to only use long, water-tight contracts when sign/re-signing players (As they have both been royally shat on by the Sharks and Stormers this past season on this regard)

Agree with you there, however they are an indication of how a team will perform, where problem areas lie, how said problems can be fixed and so on, who key players are and so on.
Don't no enough about NZ domestic rugby to comment on your comment

Sharks really reacted to their bad start last year; signing Alberts, Ludik, Hoffman, Bosman, Potgieter, Mapoe, S Meyer, Skeate , damn!

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Yeah but don't forget we lost Muller, Steyn and Pienaar. Did Basson sign for the Bulls already? He would be a perfect replacement for Pietersen when he moves to the Lions.

 

[Derpaderp]

Riiigghht. Can we expect all of your upcoming posts to be of this quality?

Whats wrong with my post? you realise it was telling facts right?

Super 14 ***les

Bulls 3 wins
Crusaders 2 wins


Super 12 and Super 14


Crusaders 7 wins
Bulls 3 wins




It is a 100% fact that those two teams OWN this comp and that they are clearly the most successful teams ever.

Derpaderp aye?... appropriate.

You realize both the Crusaders and Bulls have been wooden spooners before in Super rugby's short history. I remember back when playing the Bulls was almost a guaranteed win.. the good old days.

You realise these two teams have absolutely dominated this comp right? your not blind are you?

I'll be sure to come back here when either the Bulls or Crusaders win again this year.



In fact i can tell you the Crusaders are morals this year.

You guys don't seriously think that those underachieving/choking Aussie teams have a chance do you? LOL

 

[Shaggy]

Whats wrong with my post? you realise it was telling facts right?

Super 14 ***les

Bulls 3 wins
Crusaders 2 wins


Super 12 and Super 14


Crusaders 7 wins
Bulls 3 wins




It is a 100% fact that those two teams OWN this comp and that they are clearly the most successful teams ever.

For both teams to have owned the Comp 100%, they would have had to have won ALL of the ***les ... The Blues won/dominated the early Super 14 years, and the Brumbies have also won it a couple of times.

As it's already been mentioned, the dominating teams seems to change ... pretty brave call on the Crusaders (or any other team for that matter) before the comp's even started), injuries and availability of the international players are going to be big factors next year

 

[Seaton]

Whats wrong with my post? you realise it was telling facts right?

Super 14 ***les

Bulls 3 wins
Crusaders 2 wins


Super 12 and Super 14


Crusaders 7 wins
Bulls 3 wins




It is a 100% fact that those two teams OWN this comp and that they are clearly the most successful teams ever.




You realise these two teams have absolutely dominated this comp right? your not blind are you?

I'll be sure to come back here when either the Bulls or Crusaders win again this year.



In fact i can tell you the Crusaders are morals this year.

You guys don't seriously think that those underachieving/choking Aussie teams have a chance do you? LOL

But the ***le this year has already be won, hasn't it?

Go do your angling elsewhere

 

[nickdnz]

Whats wrong with my post? you realise it was telling facts right?

Super 14 ***les

Bulls 3 wins
Crusaders 2 wins


Super 12 and Super 14


Crusaders 7 wins
Bulls 3 wins




It is a 100% fact that those two teams OWN this comp and that they are clearly the most successful teams ever.




You realise these two teams have absolutely dominated this comp right? your not blind are you?

I'll be sure to come back here when either the Bulls or Crusaders win again this year.



In fact i can tell you the Crusaders are morals this year.

You guys don't seriously think that those underachieving/choking Aussie teams have a chance do you? LOL

As earlier mentioned, the Blues have won as many ***les as the Bulls, winning in 1996, 1998 and 2003. The fact that their not winning as many matches last season, just proves that teams like the Bulls can not always stay on top.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I have to admit that the Bulls and Crusaders have won a lot of ***les together. However, in the new format everything is possible. The fact that final hasn't been Crusaders - Bulls even once in the last years says enough about the strength of other teams and makes it a bit more coincidence that the Bulls and Crusaders have together won so many ***les.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Well, Only 2 months away from the new Super Rugby season and for the first time with an uneven number of teams. A whole new setup as we suggested before with 3 conferences, we have something to look forward to. Each team plays at least 16 matches and another possible 3 in the play-offs.

The squads of the NZ franchises are already published but I haven't seen any official news from the Australian and South African franchises. In Round 1 we only have 1 cross-conference match with Brumbies - Chiefs. The other 6 matches are all conference-matches with Stormers sitting out the first round.

After giving it some thought I have to say I understand where the new format is coming from. With a home and away-system within each conference they are trying to build a certain local rivalry. Australia doesn't have any provincial rugby and in South Africa the franchises are based on mostly 1 province (Free State Cheetahs being the exception). In between we have the teams of New Zealand. NZ has a provincial competition but the franchises are build up from 4 or sometimes even 5 provincial teams. Not much appealing for fans to cheer for.

In South Africa there is no problem with finding people to fill the stands. The Sharks are only drawing from the provincial Natal Sharks, Stormers draw from Western Province (and officially Boland but what player has made it through?). Same goes for the Bulls and Lions who don't really look outside their main source. Griquas-fans are maybe the ones feeling left out since they have to cheer for a team which uses the name of their rival in provincial rugby, the Cheetahs.

With the Super 15 creating a home and away-competition within the conferences itself, this might draw more people to the matches in Australia and New Zealand. I really hope so because it's sad to see the Hurricanes for instance play for 500 people in a stadium that can hold 20.000


So, does this new format have some good elements or is it all crap?

 

[Amobokoboko]

I would just give it a shot, it's always easy to complain but the season hasn't start yet.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

I completely get the idea of a local rivalry set up and completely behind it, Im moving to chch and will be hitting the highlanders crusaders games home and away if i can, did someone say roadtrip?!

my only problem is the cross over matches and the fact that each team has different combinations so each year there will be one team that will play say the bulls and the stomers away where someone else in their conference will get the cheetas and lions. the first team even before the season starts is at a disadvantage