AFTER six months and 135 matches Super rugby has finally reached the play-offs stage of the season.As much as Sanzaar wants to debate it, the format of the competition has made it difficult to keep even the most committed of rugby supporters interested.A tournament with 18 teams is never going to work in the long term. Sanzaar wanted to develop other parts of the rugby-playing world — the Sunwolves from Japan and Jaguares from Argentina made their debuts this season — which is a brilliant principle.But although I‘m in favour of broadening the base, the current draw is not sustainable because it favours certain teams over others.The fact that the Brumbies earned a home quarterfinal — as winners of the Australian conference — even though they managed nine fewer log points than their forthcoming opponents, the Highlanders, highlights the flaw in the system. The suits at Sanzaar are going to have to re-examine the existing format. A potential solution would be to apply a similar system ...
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