New Zealand \u2018miss\u2019 the ability to test themselves against South African opposition at club level, according to the greatest All Blacks head coach.<\/p>\n
The Bulls, Lions, Stormers and Sharks left Super Rugby<\/a> in 2020 and headed north to create the United Rugby Championship, with many ruing their void and claiming that the southern hemisphere tournament has declined in quality since their departure.<\/p>\n Quality of Super Rugby Pacific<\/p>\n However, Sir Steven Hansen<\/a> believes that the competition is still of a high quality and one he continues to watch while coaching Japanese club Toyota Verblitz.<\/p>\n \u201cQuite a bit, it\u2019s an exciting time for New Zealand<\/a> rugby,\u201d he told the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin<\/a> when asked how much Super Rugby Pacific he watches.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m trying to look at and see what\u2019s happening, and you\u2019re always looking for what\u2019s new and what\u2019s not new in the game, so it\u2019s one of the products you watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Ex-NZ Rugby chair claims South Africa made Super Rugby \u2018completely uneconomic\u2019 as the \u2018killer blow\u2019 which led to their departure revealed<\/a><\/p>\n When asked about the standard of Super Rugby, he replied: \u201cThe rugby is good. I mean, people get carried away and say the standard has dropped, but it doesn\u2019t matter where you play your footy.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat players play to their own standards, and we are fortunate that we\u2019ve got a lot of very, very talented players in New Zealand who want to be great, and they force other players to rise to those standards. So the standard\u2019s fine. No problem.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2015 World Cup-winning coach used the same claim to ease any concerns over the kind of nick that Ardie Savea will return to New Zealand after his latest stint at Japanese club Kobe Steelers.<\/p>\n Facing South African URC teams<\/p>\n Looking ahead to Dave Rennie\u2019s first international season in charge of the All Blacks, Hansen agreed with Devlin\u2019s conclusion that the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivarly Tour to South Africa is the perfect preparation for the team\u2019s Rugby World Cup in Australia next year.<\/p>\n Rennie is set to take an incredibly large squad to South Africa and will play midweek matches against the four URC clubs, and Hansen believes that the coaching team will learn a lot about the players during the tour.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree with that. One of the things we miss is not having them in the Super competition because you\u2019re measuring yourself against the style of footy they play all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, having a tour over there, we\u2019ll get a good look at what they are doing and what they\u2019re not doing, and be able to put our own stamp on it as well. So I agree, it\u2019s a great place, great preparation for the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n