TWO-time premiership winning coach Dave Rennie has called for more input from clubs into the convoluted finals structure of Super Rugby.
The relative dominance of the New Zealand conference is set to go unrewarded this year because the other three conferences (one Australian, two South African) are guaranteed to host home quarter-finals despite the likelihood their winners will have less points than New Zealand’s second and third teams.
SANZAAR has confirmed it will review the finals structure in place for next season, and Rennie – who led the Chiefs to back-to-back titles in 2012-13 – wants a greater say.
“It’d be good if everyone had a bit of a say in how the competition structure looks long-term but when you’re trying to please everyone it’s pretty difficult,” Rennie said.
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READ NOW“We haven’t grizzled too much about the competition, we know what it is and you’ve got to try and finish top to get a good run home and if not, you’re travelling.”
This year, the potential remains for the likes of the Chiefs, Crusaders, Hurricanes and Highlanders to have to travel to play an elimination quarter-final in South Africa even if they finish with more wins than their African rivals.
“There’s going to be four quarter-finals and two of them will be in Africa, considering they’ve got six teams and half those games are going to be there, I guess they put a lot of money into it,” Rennie said.
“In the end we’ve known about the comp - it is what it is. It just means if you don’t win your conference you’re travelling.”
All members of SANZAAR, which includes the ARU, NZRU, SARU agreed for the four-tiered conference system which includes a guaranteed home final for each conference winner.
But throughout this season there have been rumblings about how much consultation was done with clubs.