Rugby: Afternoon shift has its fans

Afternoon rugby matches, such as this Air NZ Cup match at Kerikeri on Saturday, are much to the liking of those who actually wish to attend games. Photo / Getty Images

A shift to afternoon kick-offs, albeit not on the scale many would like, is being discussed as part of the new rugby landscape.

The New Zealand Rugby Players Association are keen to see a greater spread of kick-off times across the weekend cycle when Super 15 begins in 2011.

For the last few years, Super 14 games in New Zealand have been scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights at 7.35pm, with 5.35pm on Saturday the next slot used when there is a cluster of games. On those rare occasions where New Zealand hosts four games in one round, the beloved 2.35pm slot has been utilised.

Those few afternoon kick-offs we have seen have provided a different class of entertainment for both the TV viewer and spectator at the ground.

In 2007, there was a belting game in Queenstown where the Highlanders lost to the Chiefs 38-34. A week later, curiously, the Chiefs had another early start and were enthralling with a dry ball - hammering the Force 64-36.

The NZRPA, once again, appear to be more advanced in their thinking about the Super 15 restructuring than the New Zealand Rugby Union.

It was the NZRPA and their respective cohorts in Australia and South Africa that had to rescue the Sanzar alliance earlier in the year when a stalemate was reached about how to restructure the proposed new format. It is again the NZRPA who have a vision that is more in tune with where the sport is failing to connect with its support base.

Rob Nichol, who heads the NZRPA, believes that with each side hosting more games from 2011, there is an opportunity to introduce a variety of kick-off times.

"If each team has eight home games then you could see a mix to offer fans a range of experiences. So you could play a couple of games on Friday nights, a couple on Saturday nights and a couple on Saturday afternoons with maybe Sunday afternoon being used as well."

It's this kind of thinking that will win support from a consuming public clearly frustrated with the rigid diet of night time games. Variety is everything while a few more afternoon kick-offs might also show the NZRU has not forgotten about those who still go to the ground.

Modern rugby is maligned on many fronts. The gripe that sits at the core of the disillusionment is that the professional game's administrators care only about broadcast numbers. TV brings in all the money so what TV wants TV gets and everything is geared towards the broadcast experience.

Broadcast figures show that viewership drops, hard, when Super 14 games are played outside the Friday and Saturday night windows.

But maybe rugby bosses needed to accept a drop in income from the new broadcast contract to rebuild the popularity of the game. A handful of afternoon games where the game is faster and slicker could restore interest longer term.

Super 14's TV audience has been in decline since 2007. The withdrawal of All Blacks in that year, the World Cup failure and introduction of new rules have all impacted negatively on the sport.

There are some critics who believe there needs to be a shake-up in the way Super Rugby presents itself both in terms of quantity and quality of content as well as when that content is made available.

With 80,000 MySky customers there is also an argument to be made that significant numbers of rugby fans are now able to decide when they want to watch rugby - making it almost irrelevant when the actual game is played.

However, NZRU chief executive Steve Tew, is not keen to budge: "The reality is that, as much as we all like the thought of watching rugby in the afternoon with the sun on our backs, it will come with a drop in broadcast revenue. We face a difficult challenge maintaining our income and if it drops then the inevitable consequence is more players heading overseas."

Tew also points out that in the early days of Super 12 when afternoon rugby was more prevalent, clubs complained that they were being squeezed out by the professionals.

Having submitted the restructuring proposal for Super 14 to broadcasters on June 30, Tew says the terms required a formal response to be made within 60 days. "Our broker has been talking to the broadcasters but we have not had an official response yet."