THINGS have been happening in the world of rugby since a couple of weeks ago, mainly in anticipation of the 6 Nations competition and Super Rugby.
As the premier international competition in the north entered its second round last weekend, pundits in Australia were trying to put up their best fronts forward to try and boost spectator interest in the inaugural Brisbane Global 10s.
But no matter how hard you try to spin and give it a positive beat, you simply cannot lie on television, not when there are rows and rows of empty seats in the background while you’re trying your best to say how exciting the tournament is and that it’s there to stay.
For now the verdict is that a club-based 10s tournament which promotes a combined package of sport and entertainment simply doesn’t have a strong pull factor, although the formula has been packaged with some success in the 7s format and for darts and cricket.
It’s difficult to see what the main selling points are.
Global because it had a team each from Toulon (France), Bulls (South Africa), Panasonic Wild Knights (Japan) and Samoa?
That the teams were playing with many of their Super Rugby stars and in the case of the five Australian franchises, some of their Test stars?
No matter how big the name is, the crowds see them playing top level rugby many times a year, from the Tests to Super Rugby. Their presence is no longer a novelty, not to a major venue in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. That’s another selling point cancelled out.
The prize money? There was NZ$1.7 million on offer in total, with the winner taking home NZ$265,000. In today’s world of professional rugby, that isn’t an amount to shout about, especially when you remember that each of the 14 teams had a squad of about 25 players.
At the end of two days, New Zealand’s Chiefs outscored the Crusaders 12-5. Of the semi-finalists, three were NZ franchises.
This could be yet another indication of how the five NZ Super Rugby franchises may again dominate this year’s competition starting next Friday with the Rebels-Blues game. Last year the tournament was won by the Hurricanes in a home final against South Africa’s Lions but also in the semi-finals were the Highlanders and the Chiefs.
For the Chiefs, the Brisbane title was a fitting farewell to their former hard man Sione Lauaki who died hours before of heart and kidney complications.
He was only 35 but Lauaki was diagnosed with the problems some years back while playing club rugby in France.
Affected hard by his demise was fellow backrower and close friend Liam Messam, who decided to carry on playing in memory of his mate although the team had agreed to allow him to fly home after the quarter-finals.
Lauaki started his rugby in Auckland but after school decided to relocate to the Waikato region. The Tonga-born one-man demolition ball when in full flight played 70 times for the Chiefs and 17 Tests for the All Blacks, including at the 2007 World Cup.
Several days earlier South African star Joost van der Westhuizen also died, also at a relatively young age of 45. He confirmed around mid-2011 to being diagnosed with motor neuron disease and was later confined to a wheelchair.
The 6 Nations takes a break this weekend but the results so far confirm England’s position as the dominant team while the second spot is still very much an open contest between France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Any of the latter four can still go on to knock England off the pedestal but not a team that loses next weekend.