The Highlanders scraped into the Super Rugby playoffs despite losing to the Rebels in their final game of the regular season. Photo / Photosport
The Highlanders scraped into the Super Rugby playoffs despite losing to the Rebels in their final game of the regular season. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
For credibility sake the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs need an immediate overhaul.
This year's inaugural 12-team regular season offered enough evidence to suggest Super Rugby Pacific has the makings of a competitive future.
We will come to those brighter points shortly. The eight-team playoff format, though, significantly hurts thecompetition's integrity.
The farcical situation of the Highlanders sneaking into eighth position, thanks to a losing bonus point against the Rebels, with four wins from 14 games only encourages mediocrity.
The same would be true had the Force, with the same winning record and a –114 points differential, made the cut.
There is a sense of irony that the bloated finals format, a compromise struck during negotiations between the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions to guarantee an Aussie presence, has ultimately helped the worst-performing Kiwi side.
Yet that does not make the outcome any more palatable.
Reaching the finals in any sport should be difficult. Four teams missing the cut is not so much a post-season as a pick a chance card to progress past go.
Sunday's final day drama surrounding eighth spot added intrigue, sure, but this idea that every team should be in the mix for the playoffs is laughable.
Professional sport is not about handing out participation medals. It should be elite, demanding, cut-throat.
Winning four games, losing 10, to finish 35 points behind first place is not a successful season. That record does not deserve the reward of continuing your campaign, and the ability to win a one-off match to further progress.
The obvious change Super Rugby Pacific should make is to swiftly usher in a six-team playoffs.
Under this finals format the top two teams get the first week off, thus incentivising and rewarding regular season form. The four other teams meet in three versus six and four versus five knockout matches to earn the right to challenge the top two contenders in the semifinals.
The Highlanders will face the Blues in the quarter-finals, despite only winning four games out of 14 this season. Photo / Photosport
Organisers are unlikely to make this change, however, because it decreases the number of games for paying broadcasters, while increasing the likelihood of a Kiwi-dominated top six.
This year, for instance, it would be four-two rather than five-three in New Zealand's favour.
The top eight format as it stands, though, does nothing to enhance the competition's credibility.
At times this season Super Rugby Pacific proved it can be compelling.
Seven wins for the Australian teams (Brumbies three, Waratahs two, the Rebels and Force one each) against their Kiwi rivals, compared to their collective two from 25 last year, represents a marked improvement that must continue.
Pasifika's fresh flavour saved its best for the final round, too. Moana Pasifika endured a severely compromised maiden campaign after being forced into several punishing 'storm weeks' - three times playing two matches within seven days to be the most affected side by Covid disruptions.
Surviving a first half red card to knock over the Brumbies at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday, in a stirring display to double their win tally after upsetting the Hurricanes, is a successful starting point for Aaron Mauger's passionate men.
Their next step must be bolstering the squad through a recruitment drive that was heavily restricted due to New Zealand's closed border, and forging close connections to Samoa and Tonga to take home matches there.
The magic scenes, the vibrancy and noise, emanating from the packed Lautoka stands as the Fijian Drua launched a stunning second half comeback that included left wing Vinaya Habosi beating four Chiefs defenders to spark a length of the field try for Kalaveti Ravouvou underlined the importance of the locals playing at home.
These aspects of Super Rugby Pacific are worth celebrating. They offer hope that the long-term future will feature the Drua and Moana evolving into consistently competitive foes, and that a true sense of jeopardy will develop over time.
The eight-team playoffs achieves the opposite. Promoting mediocrity serves to act as a deadweight dragging the competition down as it attempts to get off the ground.
