Former All Blacks full-back Mils Muliaina has put his backing behind the idea to add an American team to Super Rugby Pacific, a move that could “entice” South Africans to return to the competition.
Last week, a report emerged stating that World Rugby were in talks with Super Rugby over a possible expansion to the west coast of the United States.
With America hosting the 2031 Rugby World Cup, there are fears that the national team will not be competitive enough by then, and World Rugby are exploring options to fast-track their progress.
USA joining Super Rugby?
According to the report by ROAR Sports, World Rugby was “strongly considering” delaying USA’s hosting of the global showpiece until 2035 to give the nation a longer lead-in before opting to back their bet and go all-in.
World Rugby has since invested heavily in Major League Rugby, including Anthem Rugby Carolina, which is made up predominantly of homegrown talent. Now, the game’s governing body is exploring the opportunity of following the Fijian Drua and Jaguares template of a Super Rugby team, providing a strong base and clear pathway to the national team.
The idea of adding an American team to Super Rugby has piqued the interest of All Blacks great Muliaina, who feels it can work if the USA team is given enough time to settle in.
He urges the competition’s organisers to learn from the Jaguares’ success but also the Sunwolves’ failure.
“A bit of talk this week that World Rugby are exploring the possibility and are having talks in America, considering the 2031 Rugby World Cup, of having a Super Rugby team there; I think it’s a goodie,” Muliaina said on the Breakdown show.
“It’s a great initiative to start talking, we have got time, I’m not saying do this tomorrow, take two or three years to sort of get it in place, we’ve had lessons from the Jaguares, the Japanese side and now is the time to actually evolve Super Rugby.”
Muliaina also thinks that adding a team from America will grab the attention of South African players who may want to return to Super Rugby, and said that they should actively recruit Springboks.
“Entice the South Africans to come back, imagine a Manie Libbok coming back and playing Super Rugby in that USA team but also implementing some of those [USA] players to try and really boost it up before the Rugby World Cup in 2031,” he continued.
“This is a great opportunity, I understand they’re in talks, and I think we should stop giving it lip service. Let’s get a gun in the next three or so years.”
Jeff Wilson’s concerns
Fellow former All Black Jeff Wilson did have some reservations, though.
“The concern here, though, is the fact that if you’re trying to promote the game in the US, it would have to have a fair number of players who are USA players? If you’re trying to capture the imagination, going closer to 2031, you need to be competitive and we saw when the Sunwolves came together, they didn’t give them the roster and squad to get any momentum and they kept moving them around in terms of where they’re playing,” he said.
“That would be the one concern for me is the fact that you need locals if you’re going one improve the game for the USA national team but also get some exposure.”
Ex-scrum-half Justin Marshall weighed in, adding: “But you need patience.”
Before citing the success of Jaguares, who struggled initially but reached the Super Rugby final in 2019, their last full season in the competition.
“It took a while for the Jaguares to get going and they made a Super Rugby final. We were all at the start going ‘Why are they in this competition, they’re not offering [anything]’… and then they ended up in a final,” he added.
“Equally with Moana Pasifika, we persevered, persevered and now look at them and they’ve won more games than they’ve ever won.
“It’s always going to take time, so if it’s a USA team – I really like the idea – you can’t just dismiss them straight away.
“So maybe you start off with a few really strong USA players, and then some that you can grab from the rest of the world and just give them time.”
All Blacks coach ‘not sure’ Super Rugby Pacific is ‘setting our boys up to succeed’
Let’s have South Africans
Muliaina agreed and called for the organisers to be innovative this time around, and again pointed to the potential South African involvement as he believes that players want to return to the competition.
“The Jaguares came in with a very strong Argentinian-built squad, the Sunwolves mixed and matched,” he stated.
“Now is the time to get a little bit innovative and go well ‘Hey let’s have some South Africans’, entice them to come back.
“I know the South Africans want to come back to Super Rugby, don’t get me wrong, entice them to come back and then build. They got the MLR in America, build that and those players and a national side that’s is competitive in 2031.”
2011 Rugby World Cup-winning fly-half Stephen Donald added that it should not be the South Africans they should recruit to strengthen a possible USA club, but Argentines instead.
“Considering where Argentina sits in the world of rugby, and we mentioned the Jaguares getting to a Super Rugby final, should we be dismissing that? I know we’re talking about strengthening an American team here, but do we give them an opportunity to make up half the squad or whatever it is, because they don’t have a professional competition still or a professional team outside of Argentina,” he said.
“They’re consistently there or thereabouts come semi-final time at a World Cup and we just got to a point where Super Rugby is competitive again and is it for the good of America or is it for the good of the competition.
“That’s why I wonder, do you need 12 good teams or do you need an American team? The Jaguares with the infrastructure they’ve got in Argentina, they would be a quicker bet to be competitive.”
Wilson concluded the discussion but saying that regardless of how they recruit players, it is important that the potential team is given the best platform to be successful.
“Ultimately, it has to be well-resourced straight away,” he said.
“You can’t under resource them, you have to give them every opportunity, a good base, good coaching, all those things that you know will give them something that they can work with. The benefit of time, too, make sure over a three-year period, they’ve got the players.
“I tell you who shouldn’t pay for it, New Zealand rugby.”
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/all-blacks-great-backs-usa-super-rugby-team-idea-which-could-entice-south-african-return
