S14 draft draw a real jaw-dropper
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:13
The preliminary 2009 Super 14 draw has ruffled some feathers in New Zealand and Australia, with the Waratahs scheduled to tour South Africa not once, but twice.
The Waratahs have been tasked with a severe travel schedule, and were unhappy about the fact that they were the only team scheduled to travel to the Republic on two separate occasions.
That curious development is supposedly due to the intricacies involved in fitting in the extended Super 14 competition before the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.
Should the Waratahs schedule be confirmed, it will be the first time any side from Australia or New Zealand will be required to travel to South Africa twice since the inception of the competition.
The new proposed play-off structure, with the fourth to sixth teams on the log playing to determine which two will go in to the semifinals against the top two log finishers, will also be discussed and refined at a SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) committee meeting in Sydney on October 15.
The Blues were also left fuming after their match against the Crusaders, which was originally scheduled for Round 14 of the competition.
That match has now been moved to Round One, which could see the Blues lose out on ticket revenue - the switch is reportedly costing the franchise an estimated 10,000 ticket sales.
"We were scheduled to play the Crusaders in round 14 as part of the five-year draw," said Blues Chief Executive Andy Dalton.
"The idea behind that was to rotate teams on a fair basis so you play different teams at different times of the season. We opened our season against the Crusaders in 2007.
"I think the best way to explain the impact is this - we had 37,000 watch our last game this year against the Hurricanes and assuming the Blues were tracking well, we would expect similar interest for the Crusaders clash in round 14 next year.
"I can't put a cash figure on that off the top of my head but it is significant," Dalton told the New Zealand Herald.
Elsewhere, 2007 champions, the Bulls, will meet the Sharks in Round One of the competition, where the teams will re-enact the epic Final of 2007 in Durban on February 6.
The Cheetahs and the Stormers will be involved in another derby in the first round and the Lions will be at home against the Waratahs.
The Cheetahs are the first South African side to play overseas in 2009's Super 14.
They meet the Force on February 20 - the first of five matches on the road with the Reds, Hurricanes, Blues and the Highlanders to follow over the next four weekends.
They are followed by the Sharks who meet the Chiefs in Hamilton on February 27. They have another three matches in the Antipodes over the following three weekends.
The Bulls have five games overseas, the first on March 20 against the Hurricanes in Wellington followed by the Highlanders, Crusaders, Waratahs and Brumbies.
This time it is the Stormers that get the short end of the stick. They play Crusaders in New Zealand before returning to Australia for matches against the Waratahs and Brumbies before another trans-Tasman trip to play the Hurricanes and Highlanders in New Zealand.
The Lions' overseas matches are against the Chiefs, Blues, Reds and Force on four consecutive weekends starting on April 4.
As it now stands most matches on the draft fixture list are scheduled for Friday, but this is bound to be reviewed and revised at the October 15 SANZAR committee meeting.
Other issues that will be on the table will include the set of ELVs to be used with South Africa strongly favouring the international ELVs in order to be prepared for the British and Irish Lions tour just after the Super 14.
SAPA
