When Hoskins Sotutu scored for the Blues against the Lions at Eden Park all the way back in March of 2020, little did we know it would mark the end of Super Rugby as we knew it.
When Covid-19 sent most of the world into lockdown just weeks later,
Super Rugby Pacific: Five years on, was South African divorce really worth it?
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New Zealand and Australia reunited and, with Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua, formed Super Rugby Pacific in 2022.
Logistically, both moves made sense. As it was, when also considering Argentina’s Jaguares and Japan’s Sunwolves, Super Rugby was split across four separate continents. You’d be hard-pressed to find any sporting competition in the world that relied on international travel more than Super Rugby did.
Five years on, though, it’s difficult to gauge whether the move itself has truly reaped the hoped-for rewards.
While the Springboks defended the World Cup in 2023, it would be an incomplete argument to suggest that was because of their club set-up.
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You can make the argument that the All Blacks have struggled internationally when not exposed to the physical nature that facing South Africa brings, but New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson says, ultimately, things have worked out for all parties.
“As we’ve come through the pandemic – and you’ve got to remember there were challenges before the pandemic as well – we’ve all found a way to find new models that have got to work for us,” Robinson told the Herald.
“We certainly understand the model South Africa has, but we’ve got a lot of confidence and faith in our model also. We’re probably thinking a little bit differently as it relates to exposure of our players into different environments now.
“We’ve certainly moved on, and we think what we see coming through in [Super Rugby] at the moment, our talent pathway ... we’re in a pretty good space.”
Rose tinted glasses?
Despite the nostalgia attached to South African involvement, though, their time in Super Rugby is perhaps viewed with rose-tinted glasses.
At the time of their exit in 2020, it had been nine seasons since a South African team won the title. What’s more, with South African sides staging matches during the day, touring Kiwi sides often had little New Zealand broadcast audience.
Suggestions that lack of exposure to South Africa at Super Rugby level has left the All Blacks underprepared hold weight, but it’s also worth pointing out that New Zealand both start and finish their test season against Northern Hemisphere opposition, with the Springboks sandwiched between as part of the Rugby Championship.
As a player, former All Black turned Sky Sport commentator Jeff Wilson cut his teeth in the days when South African rugby was at its strongest. A trip to the Republic exposed Kiwi sides to adversity for weeks on end, up against a physical style of rugby and hostile playing conditions.
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“There’s no doubt, when I played South Africa had a different system, and different policies – they were at full strength,” Wilson told the Herald.
“Their squads had all the current Springboks, they were really strong. It was a great place to tour, it was a great challenge, a great time to get away with the group. It was also great preparation for the next level: playing against the Springboks.
“You got familiar with how they played, where you were playing, what it was like touring there. All of those things were great.
“It was a positive influence on your game.”
Without South Africa in Super Rugby now, though, that equation has changed.
In 2023, then-Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber described his side as having “the best of both worlds”: getting to face Southern Hemisphere sides at test level, while their clubs play in the north.
The flipside of that, though, is South Africa’s players are now plying their trade year round.
Current Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has even put forward the idea of moving the Rugby Championship to the start of the calendar year, to afford his players some kind of break.
South Africa’s golden generation of players continues to age towards the 2027 World Cup, in the same way the All Blacks’ class of 2011 to 2015 did.
And while South Africa have now won four successive tests against the All Blacks, including the 2023 World Cup final, Wilson says both sides of the equation need to be viewed in context.
“It’s fair to say that, but has it stopped us winning pinnacle events? I’m not 100% sure,” he continued. “We’re still there, or thereabouts. You’re talking about one or two plays in big games, either in South Africa or in a World Cup.
“But it’s certainly meant it’s harder for players coming in, when they face the Springboks, because you haven’t had that type of exposure.
“But, by the same token, they’re not being exposed to the top players from South Africa anyway, because they’re playing all around the world now.
“There are pros and cons in everything.”
The weakness of the rand as a currency means South Africa aren’t able to keep all of their best players, and in turn see a number of their biggest names play club rugby in either Japan, France, or England.
As a result, South Africa pick their players regardless of where they play their club rugby. In conjunction with players from the URC and offshore, the Springboks now have a larger pool of players to select from, and build depth.
In total, 2024 saw Erasmus use 50 different players, including 12 debutants and four different captains in 13 tests in the calendar year. Whether or not that pays off at the World Cup in 2027, given coaches can only select squads of 33 players, is still to be seen.
The All Blacks on the other hand select from Super Rugby, and those who have specifically been afforded a sabbatical.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have made no secret that they want to build Super Rugby to being the strongest club competition in the world, and consider All Blacks being available as the right vehicle to do so.
That policy saw NZR draw a hard line through talks of an Anzac Day test against the Wallabies, given the disruption it would mean for Super Rugby to slot it into an already congested calendar.
South Africa are happy to leave themselves short at club level, if it pays off with success every four years.
“What they’ve tried to do over the last two World Cup cycles, is focus heavily on winning World Cups,” Wilson added.
“It’s something they’re great at doing. What it’s done in terms of their philosophy, over the course of their test matches through a season, is they’re prepared to take calculated risks with players.
“They rotate players more often, they give more players opportunities, because they know what they’ve got from players overseas.
“They’ve shifted their philosophy. They’re world champions, I don’t think it’s hurt them. You’d have to ask the casual fan in South Africa if they miss the Sharks playing the Crusaders.”
Super Rugby’s 2025 rebirth
Now, after five years without South Africa, Super Rugby feels like it has has stumbled on to a winning formula.
Talk from the game’s administrators of being “fan-centric” and putting the spectator at the centre of the equation has resulted in a competition that has so far been able to hold its own against similar products.
Rule tweaks geared towards minimising stoppages and speeding up gameplay have delivered a more entertaining product.
The addition of Super Rugby Fantasy has also been a significant driver of fan engagement, drawing viewership to games that don’t involve one of the five New Zealand sides.
Most significantly, the demise of the Melbourne Rebels – while a cruel blow for rugby in the state of Victoria – has strengthened the four remaining Australian sides, and finally resulted in increased competition for the New Zealand teams. Seven rounds in, Australian sides make up four of the top-six playoff places.
All up, Sky’s internal figures saw a 12% increase in viewership across Super Rugby Pacific’s first three rounds of 2025 compared with 2024. That number also historically trends upward as the competition progresses towards the finals.
“We’re delighted with the way it’s started,” Robinson added. “Everyone involved has played a part here.
“Both the national unions are really aligned about what we want to see. The two expansion teams have brought really nice colour and flavour to things.
“Match officials are doing an incredible job – you’ve got to recognise the tweaks to the rules we’ve made in recent years, and leadership around the shape of the game is taking effect.
“We’ve had a brilliant run with weather, playing on great, hard tracks. There’s been a number of different things come together that means it’s been a competition everyone is talking about.
“Everyone’s played their part, and we’re seeing a great outcome because of it.”
While previous iterations of Super Rugby Pacific had seen lopsided results, usually involving Kiwi teams, this year has been much different.
Of the 34 matches already played this year, half have been decided by a converted try or less after the first seven completed rounds.
Purely as a spectacle, the rule changes in conjunction with equal dispersal of talent has led to tighter contests and – from a neutral perspective – a better competition.
And, when combined with the style of rugby that the Southern Hemisphere has always wanted to push, 2025 does have the ingredients to be a launching pad for the Super Rugby fans have always demanded.
“We know, come the weekend, you can make a case for pretty much anyone winning – even if they’re away from home,” said Wilson.
“If there’s a real positive about it, and I don’t know how much influence the Super Rugby Commission have had on this, they’ve got the right touchpoints on this.
“In terms of the fans, they’ve had the right conversations with referees, we’ve ignored World Rugby and said we’ll do what we think is in the best interest of the fans to create a great competition.
“We’re better for it, right now. Hopefully we’re doing something right, we’re adapting as fast as we can for what the fans want.”
By Robinson’s own admission, though, Super Rugby does lack on one front. The aforementioned exit of the Rebels has seen the competition forced to forge ahead with only 11 teams.
And while the talent has been concentrated into the Australian sides in particular, an odd number of teams does leave an “odd man out” every week.
Just how that situation is remedied, though, remains to be seen.
The strides taken by the Australian teams this year would give weight to the argument against a fifth side from across the Tasman, while Robinson is happy to draw a line through a sixth New Zealand entity.
The success of Japan’s Rugby League One in the years since the 2019 World Cup means the nation will be unlikely for another attempt at the Sunwolves, given the resources available for their own clubs, in their own league.
The United States does firm as an interesting option, where a Super Rugby side could be used as a vehicle to promote the 2031 World Cup in the same way the Sunwolves did for 2019.
However, given the struggles of breaking into the American market seen in Major League Rugby, it comes at a time when the sport needs secure financial footing.
The All Blacks have played on American soil three times in recent years and will return later this year to face Ireland at Chicago’s Soldier Field in a rematch of the historic 2016 defeat at the same venue.
But, while the need for a 12th team to even up Super Rugby Pacific’s playing stocks looms large over all of the competition’s stakeholders, it doesn’t trump the need for sustainability to ensure a repeat of the Rebels isn’t seen further down the track.
“We need to always be open minded in this space,” Robinson confessed. “But in reality, at the moment, a period of consolidation is the best approach.
“We’re still working through the reality that the model for the entire game around sustainability is one that is challenged. We’re just having to think about consolidating what we have, and making sure that we can thrive in time.
“Over time, we’ll keep one eye on what’s happening in other parts of the world, and how that relates to the Pacific.
“But there aren’t any moves immediately afoot to do anything in Japan, or North America, for instance.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
