The Fijian Drua have already proven they'll be tough to beat at home. Photo / Getty
The Fijian Drua have already proven they'll be tough to beat at home. Photo / Getty
OPINION:
Super Rugby's last regular-season weekend threw up the odd surprise, but its more powerful achievement was to provide greater clarity on how this competition could continue to regenerate itself next year.
Top of the agenda for next year has to be playing more games in Fiji and ideally, somein Samoa and Tonga, too.
The Drua showed once again they are a different proposition entirely when they play in Fiji. A few weeks back they were close to beating the Highlanders in Suva and on Saturday they produced a miracle comeback to get within a point of the Chiefs in Lautoka.
The heat, humidity and passionate crowds have given Super Rugby Pacific the Pacific flavour it needed. And the free-flowing, play-what-you-see attitude of the Drua, combined with their outrageous natural skill levels, presents opposition teams with the point-of-difference challenge they need to replace what has been lost by severing ties with South Africa.
What will most likely become clearer next year and ongoing is that just as the Drua have shown they might not love a cold night in Christchurch, plenty of teams will discover they don't love a sticky afternoon in Suva.
The same will most likely prove to be true if Moana Pasifika are able to play in Samoa and or Tonga next year.
They have settled into their South Auckland base and while two wins may not seem a brilliant return, it is in fact a highly credible effort for a rookie season.
The Western Force only won once in their debut season as did the Sunwolves and Moana have laid down something from which they can build.
But they need a deeper connection with the Islands, a greater sense that they are not New Zealand's sixth franchise, competing head-to-head with the Blues and Warriors for fans and sponsors.
The danger for Moana is that the Blues have finally rebuilt themselves into a potential champion club again and have a strong Pasifika identity.
The Warriors, however tragic and broken they may be, will be back in New Zealand next year and Moana, with the novelty of their first season having worn off, may struggle in such a crowded marketplace to build and engage the sort of fan base they need to support their financial objectives.
Moana need a point of difference, and it feels like longer-term that could come from playing more in Samoa and Tonga, and possibly being permanently based in one of the two.
Solomone Kata and Moana Pasifika celebrate after beating the Brumbies. Photo / Getty
While the last weekend of round-robin action didn't carry much in the way of potential drama given the Blues were locked in at number one, the top seven were already certain of making the playoffs and the Highlanders kicked off the last game knowing a single point would be enough to secure them eighth place, that shouldn't be used as a means to revamp the knock-out round next year.
Allowing eight from 12 teams to progress and go into a straight quarter-final scenario is not the right long-term path for Super Rugby Pacific, but so much of the brand damage inflicted on the competition has been caused by constant tinkering of the format.
Consistency and stability have been the bedrocks of sport's great competitions such as the English Premier League and Super Rugby can't afford to muck around with its playoff format next year because the last thing fans need is to have to get their heads around yet another new system.
Keep it simple and keep it the same for at least a few years yet and most likely, given the probability that the Drua and Moana Pasifika are going to be even more competitive in future, the drama in the closing rounds could be intense if all 12 teams are still live contenders to make the last eight.
The last weekend of action also provided yet one more hint that the Crusaders have become strangely erratic.
When they get their game right, as they did in Canberra a few weeks ago, they are as good as they have ever been - destructive, clinical and multi-faceted.
But the likelihood of them getting their game right seems less now than it has in the past. They have been up and down in a way they previously haven't and against the Reds their skill execution was inconsistent and mostly poor.
That the Chiefs managed to sneak into third place and potentially set up a semifinal with the Crusaders should they both win this week creates a real possibility of an upset.
