Time to get on the bandwagon

The All Blacks’ rugby test against the Wallabies in Hong Kong could well signal the start of a new era in international rugby – and it’s time for South Africa to get on the bandwagon.

By taking their national teams to play a Bledisloe Cup match in the vibrant Asian city the rugby unions of New Zealand and Australia have ensured a substantial boost to their coffers – an additional payday because the funds will be earned from a source outside traditional structures.

Although there has been some cynical comment that the New Zealanders are being compelled to take on additional engagements as a pay-back for having won the vote to stage the 2011 Rugby World Cup there is little doubt they, and the Aussies, have stolen a march on SA Rugby.

Neither the All Blacks nor the Wallabies reached the last four of the World Cup in France so the most obvious marketing strategy would have been to send the world champion Springboks to Hong Kong and promote the occasion as a grudge match.

Sadly, though officials of SA Rugby are so preoccupied with domestic issues, so busy training virtual hose pipes at frequent veld fires, that they have no time to dream up, never mind become involved in, creative fund-raising ploys.

The All Blacks are said to be contemplating a match in Denver, Colorado, and with John O’Neill at the helm you can be sure the Australians are looking at ways to cash in on rugby union’s international appeal.

The Hong Kong test will come to be seen as the watershed moment that rugby broke away from its time-honoured pattern.

The advent of professionalism in 1996 engendered new norms and brought in tournaments such as the Super 14 and the Tri-Nations but the structures remained largely the same – incoming and outgoing tours between old foes.

By moving offshore the All Blacks and the Wallabies will have spurred others to do the same and in future Twickenham might be the venue for tests involving the great southern hemisphere powers – to exploit the great numbers of Saffers, Kiwis and Cobbers living and working in London.

A mooted test between the Springboks and Ireland in Dubai fell through, but with a new stadium being built in the Gulf city and the stated ambition of the sheiks to turn their Persian region into the sports capital of the world other opportunities are bound to arise.

One year has already passed of the Springboks’ reign as world champions – a year marked by change and controversy; some of it the doing of rugby officials but quite a lot else out of their control.

It is a difficult situation administrators find themselves in but, to use a phrase favoured by a former president of the union, the All Blacks and the Wallabies playing a test in Hong Kong signals that the train is leaving the station and rugby officials better rush the Springboks onto it.

SA Rugby needs a “Van der Merwe Shop” in Hong Kong, in Dubai, in Perth and what better time to do it than while the Springbok is the No1 brand in rugby?