Old Super Rugby was better - All Black Smith

While the Aotearoa competition has been high-quality derby affairs over the past two seasons, it has left at least one All Black longing for the time of Super Rugby, and believing the past competition, which had South Africa and Argentina involved, was better than the current format.

All Black Aaron Smith has become one of the first players to speak out about the loss of South African sides, and while the local future is in European competitions, it does make for a useful reminder that despite the format’s shortcomings, it was still popular among rugby players in the Southern Hemisphere.

There was also a veiled warning in Smith’s comments, especially as the high attrition rate of injuries has hit New Zealand teams hard this season, stadiums have not been as full as they would have been last season when the rest of the world wasn’t playing rugby and New Zealand’s decision to announce prematurely a cross-Tasman competition may be something they ultimately regret.

Smith didn’t pull punches when asked on Twitter by a fan which competition he preferred – the old Super Rugby format or the Aotearoa competition.

“The old format is better. I miss touring. It was the times you really got tight as a team. Plus not much fun bashing your mates up every week,” Smith wrote on Twitter.

He followed it up on New Zealand radio with host Martin Devlin by talking about the fact that too many derbies have caused a wave of injuries in New Zealand rugby.

All Blacks Jack Goodhue, Ardie Savea, Patrick Tuipulotu, Joe Moody, Liam Squire, Dalton Papalii and All Black captain Sam Cane have already suffered serious injuries in the competition, with Cane unlikely to lead the All Blacks into battle this season.

“I think if you look back over time, (it) is not a coincidence. Back-to-back derbies, it’s definitely got to have an impact,” Smith told Devlin.

“People don’t get how much harder you go against your best mate. It’s real. It’s not like saying we don’t respect the South Africans, Aussies, Jaguares, Japanese but when you play your mate every week, the collisions, the kilometres we run, it all adds up.”

And while there is little choice locally because of Covid to play more local derbies, the lesson from New Zealand needs to be taken to heart, especially with the British and Irish Lions tour on the horizon.

The difference is that the South African teams need competition before the Lions arrive, and with the Rainbow Cup confined to local derbies, the onus will be more on coaches looking to give top-class competition to Springbok hopefuls and managing their squads better.

Because New Zealand are set for a low key test series against Italy and Fiji in their test window, teams have played their best squads in every game, which has stunted younger player development and seen both the quality and intensity of the battles get bigger and better. And that has had consequences.

Local franchise coaches will do well though to heed the warnings, although the amount of players rested in the recent Kick Off series shows there is a more structured approach to getting players ready for the international season, in conjunction with the Bok management.

And long term, European competition is still on the horizon and will provide the variety in challenges that the local franchises need.

While the cross-Tasman competition, with the hopes of a few Pacific Island teams joining in, is what lies ahead for the Kiwis.