‘Pick up the dog sh– and booze cans’: NZ pundit’s bleak view of Super Rugby launch, Kiwis win battle over golden point rule – The Roar

Were four days out from the start of Super Rugby and the harsh reality of Covid has set in across the Tasman, with a leading rugby writers bitter lament for the state of the competition that were about to see.

New Zealand Herald rugby writer Gregor Paul has cast a, well pall, over what should be a bright new dawn for the game, likening Super Rugby to the punch-drunk, veteran boxer being forced into the ring to keep collecting a paycheck.

Super Rugby kicks off this weekend, or probably will, and never has the sense of anticipation been less, Paul wrote on Tuesday.

Even when the competition was full of junk teams and shorn of sabbatical-taking All Blacks there was always still some lingering hope the whole thing would somehow ignite and produce a few tales of the unexpected.

But alas, what was once the greatest oval ball show on the planet a fast and furious, all-glamour adventure to the Southern Hemispheres most iconic rugby citadels has been reduced, for the next month, to a handful of teams kicking a ball about in the local park behind the Four Square in Queenstown.

The New Zealand teams, and Moana Pasifika, have been confined in a hub in Central Otago, with games to be missing fans as New Zealand struggles with Covid restrictions.

Already an outbreak has impacted the schedule, with the opening match between Moana Pasifika and the Blues postponed due to positive tests. That leaves the Waratahs and Fiji Drua to get the competition underway on Friday night in Sydney.

As Paul argued, the situation is one of getting by rather than making waves in New Zealand, with NZR hell-bent on satisfying broadcasters above anything else.

For the next month, the mindset is that the show must go on, he wrote. Pick up the dog shit and the stray booze cans chucked by the underage drinkers and get 30 players any 30 players who have produced a negative RAT test out there.

Anton Lienert-Brown of the Chiefs (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Thats all that matters because decamping to Queenstown is an exercise in buying time as much as it is about preserving income.

To gain its full broadcast fee, NZR have to deliver not just the New Zealand component of Super Rugby but the trans-Tasman element, too.

If too many games are cancelled in the next few weeks, there wont be any time left to ram them in later, so NZR are gambling that they can smash through their domestic fixtures from the relative security of their Queenstown bio-bubble, by which time, the Omicron wave may have peaked.

Paul said he had sympathy for NZR, but the risks are high.

To be fair to NZR, what else can they do? Paul wrote. They came up with a Super Rugby Pacific format that everyone loved and through circumstances beyond their control they can no longer deliver as intended.

But for all their tenacity to keep the competition alive, they know, as does everyone else, that it will take a miracle for this to not be yet another year in which Super Rugby endures prolific brand damage.

For all of Pauls reservations, the show will go on and with some tweaks to the rules this season.

In a media briefing ahead of the new season, New Zealand Rugby referee manager Bryce Lawrence and NZR head of high performance Mike Anthony revealed that Australian teams have accepted golden point to decide tied games, while dumping the captains challenge that proved controversial in Super Rugby Aotearoa last year.

The red card replacement rule return, with World Rugby granting dispensation for the rule change to be continued.

The captains challenge was not used in Super Rugby AU or TT last season but caused issues in the NZ only competition.

It allowed captains the opportunity to ask the referee (until unsuccessful) to refer to the TMO for an infringement in the lead-up to a try, or to review foul play.

In a sport already blighted by stoppages it just slowed them down even further.

The golden point extra time rule had been in Super Rugby Aotearoa the past two years, but not in the trans-Tasman comp as the New Zealand and Australia unions couldnt agree on it.

But now with a competitions committee for Super Rugby Pacific, it went to vote, and got support.

We had complete consensus across all of our clubs, Anthony said of the Kiwi view.

Australia were really keen on a golden try. But we felt that it could prolong the game and use all the 10 minutes [extra time] and potentially not get an outcome. And a bit of a concern from us [was] around teams playing negatively to negate try-scoring.

The red-card replacement rule, where a sent-off player can be subbed after 20 minutes, has been in Super Rugby AU and Aotearoa the past two seasons. World Rugby rejected it as part of their global law trials but it was introduced to the Rugby Championship and stays for Super Rugby Pacific.

Other global law trials such as the goal-line dropouts and 50-22 kicks remain.

Meanwhile AAP reports that after an unprecedented winless campaign last year, the Waratahs kick off their 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season on Friday night following an unbeaten trial run.

The mood in the camp from last year and now, after dam-busting wins over the Brumbies, Queensland Reds and combined Shute Shield opposition, is like chalk and cheese.

The Tahs have no doubt that last years trials and tribulations have helped them bounce back stronger.

If you were in our change rooms after a couple of our losses last year, youd know that its not a very nice place to be, Waratahs hardman Will Harris said on Tuesday.

And pretty much everyone in our squad was in those change rooms and knows what that felt like and is really determined not to feel like that again.

Its not very nice.

Were excited to announce the launch of The Roar Rugby Podcast co-hosted by our experts Brett McKay and Harry Jones and featuring some special guests. You can check out the trailer below and the guys will be back for a full Super Rugby preview on Wednesday.

As tough as last year was, Harris says the despair and humiliation of defeat after defeat after defeat for 13 matches in total was also character building.

Its a bit of a revenge story, isnt it? Everyones sort of bloods boiling after last year, he said.

Although we werent getting the results on the field and that was tough, the group still stayed really tight, which is a credit to all the boys.

There were no chinks in the group. We all stayed really close. Theres a lot of love and were all buying in for each other at the moment.

As far as mindset changes, its just been nice to win a couple of games.

Winning makes a big difference for me personally and I know the Waratahs as an organisation, everything is about winning.

Professional sport is all about winning and weve got a few wins under our belt now. Theyre only trials. We know that means nothing and weve got no points on the board but just winning is a habit.

Now weve got a few on the board, hopefully that can continue.

Harris says facing the Fijian Drua at Parramattas Bankwest Stadium in the competition newcomers eagerly awaited debut is a privilege.

We didnt win a game and were really excited about putting our best foot forward this weekend and trying to win our first Super Rugby game in a while, the back-rower said.

The Drua upset the Melbourne Rebels in their one and only trial last week to provide early vindication for inclusion after serving a three-year apprenticeship in the National Rugby Championship.

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'Pick up the dog sh-- and booze cans': NZ pundit's bleak view of Super Rugby launch, Kiwis win battle over golden point rule - The Roar