Super 15 2011

[BoyBrumby]

Originally Posted by NUFAN

I tend to think tha Australia is the only country really benefiting due to the lack of a proper domestic comp.

Yeah, I find that so weird. I'm sure the Sydney and Brisbane comps are a fairly high standard, but to not have a national league is surreal.

[ripper868]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Yeah, I find that so weird. I'm sure the Sydney and Brisbane comps are a fairly high standard, but to not have a national league is surreal.

Was tried tbf - the ARC comp which "unearthed" players like Pocock, Beale, Burgess, The Faingaa twins, Dean Mumm, Matt Hodgson, Ben Daley, Sleezy Maa'fuu anda couple of others. YouTube - Australian Rugby Championship

Cost being the big factor stopping it from running - We've got a pretty big **** off land mass here and the travel aint cheap.

The Sydney and Brisbane Premier Comps are of a good standard and a few of the teams IMo would give a couple of the NPC teams a fair shake (Uni, Eastwood in Sydney for example).

[Ausage]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Yeah, I find that so weird. I'm sure the Sydney and Brisbane comps are a fairly high standard, but to not have a national league is surreal.

Rugby (both codes) only exists in the northern states. Can't have a national competition when half the country doesn't know the sport exists.

[BoyBrumby]

Obviously NSW & QLD are the heartlands of both codes (more populous than the rest of the country put together too) but the Lions usually play a WA XV too when they tour (and haven't been to Oz since the Reds joined the Super 14 as was), so there must be some interest over there at least.

Could totally see why the travel to Perth/Freo might put off eastern teams tho, What sort of crowds do the club comps in Sydney/Bris get?

[Somerset]

Excellent match this evening - although at halftime I was wishing I hadn't tried to tip the upset! High quality from both sides despite a few early-season errors. Pleasing to see Ali Williams back in particular.

[Somerset]

Week One Points and Standings after Week One:
Samuel_Vimes 6
Social 6
Somerset 6
BoyBrumby 5
HeathDavisSpeed 5
Ripper868 5
TT Boy 5
Hurricane 4
Athlai 3
Quaggas 3

Week Two Fixtures:
Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Cheetahs vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Waratahs vs Reds
Shark vs Blues
Stormers vs Lions

[BoyBrumby]

Week Two Fixtures:

Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Cheetahs vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Waratahs vs Reds
Sharks vs Blues
Stormers vs Lions

[ripper868]

Week Two Fixtures:
Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Cheetahs vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Waratahs vs Reds
Shark vs Blues
Stormers vs Lions

[Quaggas]

Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Cheetahs vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Waratahs vs Reds
Sharks vs Blues
Stormers vs Lions

Long way from wooden spoon to tipping champ

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by TT Boy

Interested to see how the Lions fare this year, played some good stuff in the Currie Cup and are now being bank rolled heavily. Be nice if they can get out of Ellis Park also, one of the most pathetic sights on a Friday evening is seeing the Lions let in 50 odd in front of 10 people in a 60,000+ stadium.

Pretty impressive start and they took the Bulls to the wire. 50,000+ at Ellis Park as well. Can't remember the last time that occurred for a Lions game.

Rebels game was a joke. Michael Lipman, Gareth Delve, Hoani MacDonald et cetera, laughable recruits. They were all dead on their feet come 50 minutes. You would think the franchise would have looked to get some local players in (Rocky Elsom, Digby Ioane) or get some real marquee players in. Can't see the locals staying loyal to this rabble for too long.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Agreed. Raping the cash cow, methinks.

Competition was best with 12. Perth & Melbourne just aren't rugby hotbeds. Would have been better off with a Pacific Island or Argentine team.

[TT Boy]

Chiefs
Brumbies
Bulls
Saders
Tahs
Shark
Stormers

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Week Two Fixtures:
Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Cheetahs vs Bulls
Hurricanes vs Crusaders
Waratahs vs Reds
Shark vs Blues
Stormers vs Lions

[BoyBrumby]

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

Agreed. Raping the cash cow, methinks.

Competition was best with 12. Perth & Melbourne just aren't rugby hotbeds. Would have been better off with a Pacific Island or Argentine team.

I've always thought a Japanese franchise would have been worth looking at. It might have to be propped up with imports to make it competitive on the field, but club rugby in Japan is pretty big. I CBA to check, but if memory serves in terms of registered players only England, France, SA & NZ have more.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Not such a bad idea when the NZRU and ARU seem willing to stage internationals in Hong Kong to host a SuperRugby team up there. I wonder if it might be worth staging an IRB funded tournament between an Argentine team, Pacific Island team and Japanese team and an NPC & Currie Cup XV. 5 teams, round robin tournament hosted by Argentina, Fiji & Japan on rotation in order to keep costs down.