Former All Blacks and Blues fly-half Carlos Spencer has bemoaned South African teams’ departure from Super Rugby and hailed the impact Tony Brown has made as an assistant coach with the Springboks.

Much has been said and written about the decision to exclude South African sides from the premier club competition in the Southern Hemisphere after the 2020 Super Rugby tournament was curtailed when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

That forced a rethink in Australasia, with travel being notably impacted, and New Zealand Rugby decided to break away from the competition, establishing the domestic Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament, before they and Rugby Australia joined forces to set up Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and then Super Rugby Pacific.

That decision meant sides from South Africa were forced to go their own way and their four leading franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – joined the United Rugby Championship (URC) and have also been allowed to participate in the Investec Champions Cup.

Meanwhile, a fifth South African outfit, the Cheetahs, who are not currently involved in the URC, are competing in Europe’s second-tier Challenge Cup competition.

Negative reaction to South Africa’s Super Rugby exit

New Zealand and Australia’s decision to part ways with South Africa has received plenty of negative reaction in recent times with former All Blacks like Israel Dagg and Murray Mexted, as well as ex-Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, all criticising it.

And Spencer, who also had playing and coaching stints with the Lions and Southern Kings, is the latest high profile ex-All Black who feels that the South African clubs’ departure from Super Rugby has had a negative impact on New Zealand rugby.

“We’re definitely missing them,” he told IOL. “I think that was always the big question when the South African teams decided to move on. I think New Zealand rugby has shown that we’ve missed them over the last few years.

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“I think not only as players, but I just think as a fan base as well. It’s a huge loss for New Zealand rugby. It’s unfortunate for us as New Zealanders because the Bokke are one of our biggest rivals.

‘A massive loss for New Zealand rugby’

“We just love playing against the South Africans. So, without a doubt, it’s a massive loss for New Zealand rugby.”

Meanwhile, another former All Blacks fly-half Brown is currently a vital cog in the Springboks machine as an assistant coach and under his influence the current world champions’ attacking play has come on in leaps and bounds.

Brown is renowned as one of the world’s best attacking coaches, who has previously had successful coaching stints with Japan in the international arena and the Highlanders at Super Rugby level.

Spencer believes it’s a good thing that Brown is sharing his vast attacking knowledge as it reflects positively on New Zealand’s impact on the global game.

“Like we said earlier, the game’s changing. Coaches are moving around. He’s (Brown) got all the skill set. He’s got a great attacking mindset,” said the 49-year-old, who is currently serving as the New Zealand Black Ferns XV’s attack coach.

“I think he’s shown that within the Boks. He’s shown that within the Highlanders. He’s just one of those intelligent coaches that is innovative. He doesn’t mind bringing something different to the attack.

“It’s good for New Zealand rugby when you see coaches moving on and doing things for other countries. It’s awesome.”

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