Covid-19 has had a huge effect on professional Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere.
It seems that the demise of Super Rugby was the first major impact. The competition was already struggling to retain viewers and sponsors, and the cessation of air travel and international movement was the death knell for a competition played across four nations and 6 timezones. Super Rugby was already in serious trouble, but it is fair to say that Covid-19 fast-tracked its demise.
And now it seems apparent that SANZAAR will also be another victim of Covid-19. SANZAR was originally formed back in 1996 to administer Super 12 and the Tri Nations.The farcical events surrounding the recent release of the updated Rugby Championship draw has shown us how dysfunctional the relationship between the member nations has become. NZR and RA had a much publicised spat during negotiations about a potential Trans Tasman competition, and that relationship looks to have permanently soured. And despite itself being involved in prolonged negotiations to join the Celtic league, the SARU has been angered about the demise of Super Rugby and now seems to be openly hostile to both NZR and RA.
In the current environment it seems that SANZAAR is no longer a viable, tenable or necessary organisation. With Super Rugby no longer an ongoing entity I don't believe we need SANZAAR. If the Rugby Championship continues beyond 2020 then I believe that a new, smaller committee can meet as required to run organise and run this tournament. I suspect we will get back to the situation where the national unions take full responsibility for running their tier 1 and tier 2 competitions, and that will be a good thing.
SANZAAR has in many ways been a poster-child for poor sports governance. They have written the book on how not to expand a competition, and their record of expansion has been truly dire. The Cheetahs, Kings, Force and Sunwolves were all teams that were introduced and then scrapped for various reasons.
SANZAAR also wrote the book on how to destroy an excellent competition. Constant changes and tweaks to the structure of Super Rugby marred the history of the comp, and almost all of them were failures. The worst decisions were the farcical conference system, the deeply flawed finals system and reverting back to non-neutral referees to appease the South Africans which resulted in 20-1 penalty counts for South African teams.
So farewell SANZAAR. I personally won't miss you, and in the future I believe scholars studying sports administration will study your history to learn about failed sports governance models.
The demise of SANZAAR
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Carter's Choice
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Yep, everything he touches turns to shit.
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OomStruisbaai
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Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
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Carter's Choice
- Posts: 1504
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WC? What are you talking about?OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
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Carter's Choice
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yep, classic case of killing the Golden Goose. They got greedy, and wanted more games, more TV money and more sponsorship. In the end they were left with nothing.Jb1981 wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 4:15 am SANZAAR became a bad soap opera. I won’t miss that but I will miss the competitions. In its heyday Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship (tri-nations) were great but then they degraded the formats and the novelty wore off.
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Guy Smiley
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Water Closet. The silly old cunt is into the nappy stage and doesn’t need to visit the toilet any more.Carter's Choice wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:29 amWC? What are you talking about?OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
He may be conceding that the Springboks won’t go back-to-back, but then it takes a special side to manage that.Shanky’s mate wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:37 amWater Closet. The silly old cunt is into the nappy stage and doesn’t need to visit the toilet any more.Carter's Choice wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:29 amWC? What are you talking about?OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
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OomStruisbaai
- Posts: 16050
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Tri Nations or wtf they call it nowadays.Carter's Choice wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:29 amWC? What are you talking about?OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.
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OomStruisbaai
- Posts: 16050
- Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:38 pm
- Location: Longest beach in SH
Vokof Aussie doos.Shanky’s mate wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:37 amWater Closet. The silly old cunt is into the nappy stage and doesn’t need to visit the toilet any more.Carter's Choice wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:29 amWC? What are you talking about?OomStruisbaai wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am Won't miss Superugby and WC.
Bring back tours,
Not sure if the modern All Black player is prepare to stay 5 weeks away from home.