COLIN BOAG
When the PRO14 organisers, desperately trying to breathe some life into things, decided to change its name to the United Rugby Championship, and invite some South African franchises to join, it always looked like a daft move. However, even with their track record of poor decisions, they couldn't have foreseen how much that one would backfire. To have the final of what was, and should still be, a European competition, contested by two South African teams is little short of a catastrophe.
I'm pretty sure that was never even thought of as a likely outcome. Surely it would be an all-Irish final, as the Welsh, Scottish and Italian teams were never going to be up to the job, and, while Ulster might play a part, the dream conclusion would see Leinster lock horns with Munster, probably at a packed Aviva Stadium? Instead, the final was held yesterday 10,000 kms away in Cape Town, something that I suspect was met with indifference by many European fans.
Why does European rugby have this obsession with bailing out the South Africans? South Africa is a great rugby nation and, of course, they are the current world champions. Their players add hugely to the European rugby scene, even if they are essentially mercenaries, over here purely because their home currency is so weak, and because it's a safer environment for their families. That, however, is very different to declaring them honorary Europeans and allowing their teams into the fold.
Everyone knows that whatever it's called the Celtic League, PRO12/14, or URC – the competition is a basket case. Some teams are just too poor, and therefore too weak, to compete at the upper echelons of the league, while others are so rich and so strong that they can send out their second XVs in order to focus the best players on the Champions Cup. The only games that really draw a crowd are the local derbies.
Travelling between Scotland, Wales and Ireland was a pain for supporters, but then the Italians were added, and that made it more problematic and expensive for away fans – it was a nail in the coffin of the competition. Did the organisers learn from that mistake?
Of course, they didn't, and despite two hours-plus flying time to Italy being a disincentive to attend a game, they opted to allow in some teams that required a 14-hour trip from Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin!
League rugby is tribal, and the French Top 14 and the English Premiership ‘get it'. When the Welsh Regions play each other you can see that, similarly with the Irish Provinces, and the Scottish teams, and no doubt all-South African fixtures will be crowd pleasers – outside of that how many people would get off their sofas and go and watch a game? The evidence suggests it's not very many.
With a scenario that's not too far short of disastrous, you would imagine that other organisers would learn a lesson, but not EPCR who plan to allow the South Africans into the Champions and Challenge Cups. In recent days I've seen a few neutrals who quite like the idea, and the South African diaspora loves it, but the majority of the fans I've spoken to, or followed on social media, think the idea stinks.
Disappointingly, PRL officially supports the inclusion of the South Africans, their Chief Exec saying that the Premiership clubs are looking forward to playing them, eleven and a half hour flights and all! He said: “It is a big step forward in expanding the reach of these unique and special tournaments, and bringing world-class, international club rugby to new audiences” – Ipresume he means television audiences, because I can't see too many fans travelling. I wonder whether the clubs are as enthusiastic as he is, as we already know that their French equivalents aren't.
Last weekend's pulsating Premiership semi-finals showed just how far we still have to go to make the Head Contact Process work. In Luke Pearce and Matthew Carley we had two refs who are widely reckoned to be among the best in the business, but when so many people see incidents differently to them, then things aren't right.
There were several incidents across the two games where opinions were split, some seeing them as red cards, some as yellows, and others as just a penalty. Part of that is supporter bias but a number of them simply illustrated that the Holy Grail of consistency is miles away from being achieved. Imagine how random results were before we had the TMO!
