I love rugby, I really do, but I can’t help but feel they’ve really butchered Super Rugby these past few years. If you don’t believe me wait until next year’s fiasco kicks into gear in late February, you’ll be cross-eyed by the time you figure it all out.

And then there’s next year’s Currie Cup, where broadcasters must be licking their lips at the prospect of 166 matches. That’s just the slight increase from this year’s 76, meaning the Vodacom Cup has been scrapped and the Currie Cup brought forward to April 9.

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of how this is all going to play out courtesy of Sport24:

Irrespective of how well they perform in that first stage, the six South African Super Rugby unions – the Golden Lions, Western Province, Blue Bulls, Free State Cheetahs, Sharks and EP Kings – will automatically move on to the “Premier Division” with the three non-franchise teams with the greatest number of log points joining them.

The remaining six teams will then contest the “First Division” title.

What this essentially means is that the first stage of the competition will be nothing more than a glorified Vodacom Cup. The top unions will have their best players playing Super Rugby, but winning or losing won’t matter at all as they are guaranteed entry into the Premier Division no matter what position they finish on the log.

However, the so-called smaller unions – Griquas, Boland, SWD, Border, Griffons, Valke, Leopards and Pumas (as well as Namibia) will have everything to play for as they will be fighting for the three remaining spots in the Premier Division.

Well that’s great, our top six teams playing 14 round-robin matches that are essentially meaningless, that’ll bring in the crowds. Of course the smaller unions will have plenty to play for, the three who make it through set to compete against the big boys.

The second stage of the competition will also be played over a single round where teams will start from scratch as points will not be carried over from the first stage.

The top four teams will then contest the semi-finals before the grand finale in October.

It really does seem like overkill, although for the smaller unions it may be the financial lifeline needed to keep them afloat.

Get ready for live rugby and lots of it.

[source:sport24]