TIME FOR A CHANGE IN SENIOR RUGBY SYSTEM

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32966, 12 July 1972, Page 14

TIME FOR A CHANGE IN SENIOR RUGBY SYSTEM

(By

J. K. BROOKS)

The period between the end of the D.C.L. Shield competition and the beginning of the Harewood Trophy and Challenge Cup contests is a good time to take stock of the format for inter-club Rugby in Christchurch. The Canterbury Rugby Union still regards the Harewood Trophy competition for the top eight teams as the “championship.” but it does not give as true a picture of the relative merits of the senior teams as the round-robin contest for the D.C.L. Shield. Harewood Trophy teams are divided into two sections of four sides; section play is completed in three weeks, and the so-called grand final in the fourth week completes the contest.

Even allowing for the fact that teams have had to play for- the right to qualify for the Harewood Trophy, the

competition itself is too brief and too much of a lottery for it to assume the status of the major championship. There was an unreal aspect about last season’s final. By common consent, Lincoln" College and Linwood were the two best senior sides—they tied for the D.C.L. Shield. But one defeat each in the Harewood Trophy competition was sufficient to deny them the right to play for the “championship.” In the 16 weeks embracing the D.C.L. Shield contest and the section play for the Harewood Trophy, Lin-

coin College, Linwood and Christchurch all won 13 games, lost two and drew one.

But New Brighton, which became joint winner of the Harewood Trophy by drawing with Christchurch in the final, had only nine wins, three losses and four draws.

There is no valid reason why the union should stick rigidly to a system of completing one competition before it starts another. The intertwining of a knock-out contest with the concluding rounds of the round-robin competition could produce a situation in which the Harewood Trophy and Challenge Cup finals were played a week after the final round of the D.C.L. Shield competition. With the addition of two senior-reserve teams —say, Burnside and Hornby—to bring the knock-out field up to 16. the programme could go like this:— First 10 weeks: D.C.L. Shield matches. Eleventh week: Knockout, first round. Twelfth week: D.C.L. Shield, eleventh round.

Thirteenth week: Knockout. quarter-finals; Challenge Cup (for first round knock-out losers). first round. Fourteenth week: D.C.L Shield, twelfth round Fifteenth week: Knockout, semi-finals; Challenge Cup. semi-finals. Sixteenth week: D.C.L. Shield, final round Seventeenth week: Knockout and Challenge Cup finals. It is appreciated that the present system of competition is in only its fourth year. But, judging by the attendances at D.C.L. Shield games, the public has already grown tired of the format. The Sydenham club has already urged the formation of national league in interprovincial Rugby. If such a competition was to come into being, the senior club contests, in their present form, would attract little more than three men and a dog. A bright, new programme, such as that outlined above could have considerable appeal. Rugby needs over hauling, but the work must start at club level if the operation is to be effective.