Roaring Like a Lion, Purring like a Pussycat

Like their senior cousins, The Hurricanes, the Wellington rugby team has been an enigma.  Often touted as a team that should be top 4 material in domestic rugby, years have seen them struggle to match it in the top flight.  But if one was to look at the past 7 years one would be surprised.

2008 AirNZ Championship  1st
2009 AirNZ Championship  2nd
2010 ITM Cup  4th

Then the Chris Boyd as Coach era:

2011 ITM Cup  6th
2012 ITM Cup  2nd
2013 ITM Cup  1st
2014 ITM Cup  7th and relegated.  OOPPSS!!

So why did that oops happen?  That's a million dollar question and one educated Wellington rugby followers and knowledgeable types can pin down.

Was it better teams in the ITM Cup ahead of them?.  Well no, they lost 9, won 1 and lost a majority of their crossover games versus supposedly weaker opposition.

Was it a poor selection of club players on offer? Possibly.  Is the club competition robust enough to provide top tier players?

Was it the coaching staff?  Well Boyd slipped from top four in his first year finishing the team next year second last in the comp.  Sure he picked it up again in his second and third years, but the bubble burst on the fourth year.  Relegation of a big city team (forget Dunedin, Hamilton and Tauranga are bigger these days) is frankly preposterous.  Did last years team have the bulk of players from the previous year when they won ITM Cup?  Must be the coach!

So Boyd moved away from the team to take up a role as Hurricanes coach and so far has proven a winner.  I'm guessing he does that job knowing his wards can't be relegated.

ITM Cup Championship Race

Ok so the Premiership is locked and loaded with two unlikely teams vying essentially for top honours.  But what about the Championship?

Three teams have bragging rights to promotion and the results this week in the final round robins throws up some interesting permutations.  Currently Manawatu lead the comp by 4 points with both Hawkes Bay second on 26 (and a 40+ differential) and Northland on 26 (plus 20+ differential) with Southland and North harbour vying for the 4th spot. So how does this play out for home semis?

The final round sees the leaders Manawatu away to Otago.  Never an easy game in Dunners but the form Manawatu have been displaying of late is inspiring and I'm picking the Turbos to win a tight one.  So what of their table permutations?  A 5 point win would see them safely at home in the semis, as will a 4 point win.  However if they lose and get 1 point they will have to sweat out the other two team's match results.

Hawkes Bay have a home match (Ranfurly Shield) versus Southland.  This will be one very interesting match as Hawkes Bay have been playing good rugby too, and Southland have this knack of knocking over the holders and stealing the Log of Wood for their own mantelpiece.  If the Magpies win with 5 points they can overtake Manawatu if Manawatu fail to get a point in Dunedin. And with only one differential point between them currently an interesting finals series in the offing.

However the Dark Horse is The Taniwha, Ngapuhi Northland.  They have an away match at Auckland this weekend and same as Hawkes Bay, a 5 point win will seem them move to the top if Manawatu and Hawkes Bay fail to secure a point.  If they tie with Hawkes Bay on points ahead of Manawatu, Hawkes Bay will lead the comp on differential, Unless the Taniwha get a 21+ point advantage over Auckland (which seems not insurmountable).

Of course there are four teams in the finals in both comps, but I'm concentrating on the top four finishing positions.  In the mix for fourth place are Southland and North Harbour.  As stated The Stags have a very tough match for the Log at Napier, but if they knock over Magpies (the points differential will be small) they have a shot at top four, unless North Harbour beat Wellington with a 5 point bonus point win and move ahead of the Stags.  Tough comp eh!!  And who would have thought Harbour would have been in the mix early on in the season?

So folks, starting tonight, forget the Premiership, put your feet up for the weekend and watch the Championship teams fight it out for bragging rights and in the process enjoy some top footy.

ITM Cup - how it should be.

For a number of years now the existing ITM Cup format has been in place, and by and large most folks think it works.  I don't.

Playing in the top level in this country is about being the best and to be the best you have to perform to the highest level in every game.  Sure you're not going to win every game but there is the capacity in any competition for that to happen.  Ideally the team that performs the best over a season takes the plaudits, look at how the EPL is structured.  So why have finals rugby in a winner takes all competition?

And further more why have two separate competitions?  For the uninitiated there are 14 teams in the ITM Cup, 7 in the Premiership (top tier) and 7 in the Championship (second tier)  Each team in each competition plays each other once and to add flavour to the mix there are four crossover games between each competition.  Confused?

Well it gets better.  After round robin play, the top four teams in each competition play semifinals amongst each other, the winners going to a final.  In the Championship there is an added bonus for the winner, promoted to the Premiership.  Yes that means four teams have a chance of being promoted, seemingly regardless of their position in the top four, and as has happened, the team that was the form team through round robin can miss promotion through upset results.  Of course the same happens in the Premiership without the carrot of promotion.

So what is wrong with this format?  Well I like the EPL format.  All 14 teams in the ITM Cup should

be playing to finish top of the table and win the competition.  Some (NZRU for one) complain to do this the season would be extended.  Bollocks I say.  By my calculations if all teams played each other once a season, the season proper would need just one more week!!  Not too much to ask surely?

As an added bonus, (yup NPC days) the bottom team in this format gets to play for promotion/relegation with the Heartland Rugby Comp champ with the winner playing their next season in ITM Cup.

If the current format stands, which no doubt it will, then the winner in round robin in Championship should get automatic promotion with the last placegetter in the Premiership being demoted.  I can't see why not. Simple really.

I sense many agree with this.  I'd like to see my team play ALL the teams in the competition and as it stands I don't.  The Turbos this year didn't play Canterbury, Taranaki, and Tasman, the top three teams in the Premiership.  How much good rugby did we miss out on?

Finals Rugby in ITM Cup is a wrought.  It's not a cash cow for the NZRU and it's only followed by the teams involved supporters.  Get those three extra games and the income is greater surely?