Springboks great Schalk Burger has vehemently disagreed with the Super Rugby Pacific chief, who claims that they are not being hampered by South Africa\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
The teams from the Republic were axed from the competition in 2020 and have since decided to align their club game with the northern hemisphere.<\/p>\n
Their big four franchises \u2013 the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers \u2013 opted to join the United Rugby Championship, leaving Australia and New Zealand to go it alone.<\/p>\n
A debate has continued to rage as to whether the trans-Tasman duo should try to convince their fellow southern hemisphere giant to rejoin, but CEO Jack Mesley poured scorn on that idea.<\/p>\n
Mesley is convinced that they are better off without the South Africans, but that has attracted some criticism from big-name pundits.<\/p>\n
Springboks legends agreeing with Sir John Kirwan<\/p>\n
All Blacks<\/a> legend Sir John Kirwan stated that those comments were \u201cbull***\u201d and Burger agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s (Kirwan) got a point there. We were all part of it, Super 12\/14\/15. I think we lost the plot after that, it got too big, but it\u2019s the greatest comp I\u2019ve ever played,\u201d he said on the Boks Unpacked<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving South Africa<\/a> there, how can it not add to it? He\u2019s going to protect his own competition, which he is, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any value in that statement.\u201d<\/p>\n Mesley controversially stated that the South Africans don\u2019t \u2018rate\u2019 as well, which surprised Burger and his fellow Springboks legend Jean de Villiers, who joined the former back-rower on the show.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what it\u2019s based on, whether it\u2019s attendance, viewership or commercially,\u201d De Villiers said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Schalk\u2019s point, he\u2019s the CEO of the competition, surely you\u2019re going to say that it\u2019s better now than it\u2019s ever been, but I\u2019d like to see the facts on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Since moving to the URC, the South Africans have provided a significant commercial boost to the competition, which Burger claimed was the same in Super Rugby<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSouth Africa, we were two-thirds of everything commercially in that business model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the situation with the URC and what South Africa has done for the URC, growing it by an exponential rate every year.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso the crowds we pull in. Cape Town in the last two games at DHL stadium, 55,000 for the two games, so I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any value in that statement.\u201d<\/p>\n Super Rugby Pacific \u2018rates\u2019 better without South Africa as CEO issues blunt verdict on expansion<\/a><\/p>\n Sir John Kirwan calls \u2018bull\u2014-\u2018 on Super Rugby chief\u2019s South Africa comments as Springboks legend weighs in<\/a><\/p>\n Why Super Rugby declined<\/p>\n De Villiers and Burger also agreed that the standards in Super Rugby slipped over the years after once considering it the best club or franchise competition in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think the quality of rugby back then, call it Super 12, from an attacking point of view, you were tested. From a defensive point of view, you were tested, so it went both ways,\u201d De Villiers said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never had an easy game. Name one team where you went there and thought, \u2018we\u2019re definitely going to get a win\u2019, it was never like that. And then you get one on the road against whoever \u2013 that one game we won against the Blues in Auckland where it was against all odds and suddenly your season\u2019s on the up again.\u201d<\/p>\n Super Rugby also wasn\u2019t helped by the fiscal dominance of France, England and Japan, who attracted some of the top southern hemisphere stars away from Super Rugby.<\/p>\n \u201cThe landscape\u2019s changed. Back then all the big South Africa players were based in South Africa, so too New Zealand, so too Australia,\u201d Burger said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a sprint. We started in Feb and it ended in May before we started with the June internationals, and it was like a trial before we went there, every player had to perform.<\/p>\n