Newlands exposed decision as idiotic

The big north/south derby in Cape Town this past weekend proved many things, perhaps the most significant of them being the complete idiocy of the decision to return to a 14-team Currie Cup from next year.

There have been some big crowds at Newlands this year, but none of them has been bigger than the 48 000 that turned up to watch two South African teams in action. It is a traditional rivalry that extends back several years, and it retains the passion and excitement, both for players on the field and for those who watch from the stands.

There are those who would criticise the quality of rugby produced, but you could not fault the sheer intensity and, yes, even at times the brutality of the battle. New Zealand columnist Patrick Innes perhaps best summed it up when he said that it was like watching gladiators in battle more than a rugby match, but that it was absorbing stuff and he could not keep his eyes off it.

The point for me though is that nearly 50 000 people, the biggest Super 12 crowd of the year, turned up to see the game, and in so doing they showed that the South African rugby public thrives on this sort of match. As was shown last year, when the Currie Cup was admittedly under-strength due to Springbok commitments, the top local teams playing one another is what the public wants.

Last Saturday, and the buildup to the game, served as a reminder of what the strength-versus-strength system can provide. Drama, tension…and most importantly, bums on seats which then translates into money in the coffers.

Why then are the people running the game moving away from what their consumers want?

Surely this must be one of the few businesses in the world where what the consumer wants is completely ignored and instead the people who run the show opt for that which titillates themselves but no-one else.

It is true that there will still be clashes between the Blue Bulls and Western Province in a 14-team Currie Cup. But they will be fewer and further between, with usually just one game at one of the venues. The strength-versus-strength system guarantees a home and away north/south showdown every season, which means both provincial unions get to profit from the massive gates that these matches draw.

And it is not just the WP/Bulls rivalry that gets the average rugby fans blood pumping.

The WP/Natal rivalry over the past few years has become as intense and you need just ask the Sharks managing director Brian van Zyl how pleased he is to be hosting Province as he knows it will always be a money-spinner. The same can be said when the Sharks travel to Newlands, and perhaps even more so now that parts of Cape Town appear to have become satellite states of Durban.

Whichever way a 14-team Currie Cup system would be configured, there would always be a fair chance that the Natal/WP game would be limited to a one-off, and that one of the two coastal venues will be forced to miss out.

And in between, those who like to watch their rugby live would be dished up with unappealing mismatches that just don’t attract enough interest or produce enough drama to feed the public interest.

The day out at Newlands on Saturday also brought a reminder of just how great a chasm there is between the standard of rugby produced by the bigger provinces and the smaller unions.

The Boland Cavaliers, who would return to the Currie Cup in a 14-team system, played the Western Province Vodacom Shield team in the main curtain-raiser.

Despite the fact the top 25 to 30 WP players are away with injury or Stormers commitments, so making the Vodacom side almost a WP third string team, the side representing the bigger union still won by 10 points against a Boland side fielding a full-strength team.

Frankly, having a team like Boland in the same section as a full-strength WP side, as will happen in the 14-team Currie Cup, is exactly what I said it was at the outset: sheer idiocy. Due respect to the Bolanders, but some extremely strange changes are going to have to take place in our rugby if they are ever to draw a 48 000 crowd to Newlands.

The public have voted, and on Saturday they showed they want strength versus strength. I hope Brian van Rooyen and his helpers took note…