Former All Blacks and Blues fly-half Carlos Spencer has bemoaned South African teams\u2019 departure from Super Rugby and hailed the impact Tony Brown has made as an assistant coach with the Springboks.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That decision meant sides from South Africa were forced to go their own way and their four leading franchises \u2013 the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers \u2013 joined the United Rugby Championship (URC) and have also been allowed to participate in the Investec Champions Cup.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a fifth South African outfit, the Cheetahs, who are not currently involved in the URC, are competing in Europe\u2019s second-tier Challenge Cup competition.<\/p>\n
Negative reaction to South Africa\u2019s Super Rugby exit<\/p>\n
New Zealand<\/a> and Australia\u2019s decision to part ways with South Africa<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n And Spencer<\/a>, 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\u2019 departure from Super Rugby has had a negative impact on New Zealand rugby.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely missing them,\u201d he told IOL<\/a>. \u201cI 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\u2019ve missed them over the last few years.<\/p>\n All Blacks captain \u2018earned the right\u2019 to skip Super Rugby as Crusaders boss decides his future<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think not only as players, but I just think as a fan base as well. It\u2019s a huge loss for New Zealand rugby. It\u2019s unfortunate for us as New Zealanders because the Bokke are one of our biggest rivals.<\/p>\n \u2018A\u00a0massive loss for New Zealand rugby\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe just love playing against the South Africans. So, without a doubt, it\u2019s a massive loss for New Zealand rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n