Peter Jessup over at NZ Herald has an interesting perspective on what rugby needs to do to retain its place as the number one sport in the country with interest supposedly waining and fans staying away.

I tried to watch the Super 14 at the weekend – I really tried hard – but the lack of professionalism is a big turn-off.

So did I but MySky wouldn’t come to the party. I recorded the Crusaders game but after about 10 minutes it told me it had reached the end of the program. By all accounts I didn’t miss much.

Never mind the confusion over the different varieties of rules and the different interpretations since the advent of the ELVs…

Let’s not forget the Cheetahs and Brumbies both taking the field in mostly white jerseys a couple of weeks ago.

…the game would be vastly improved if the players managed the simple process of passing and catching the ball, holding on to it in the tackle and then setting it properly for quick recycling.

It’s hard, on first impressions, to deny that Jessup has a very good point here. While I’d like to see some hard data before completely passing judgment, it seems to me that the standard of handling this season has gone seriously downhill. Australian rugby writer Spiro Zarvos suggested the Waratahs should cancel their 15 minutes of fun cricket they begin training sessions with and replace it with passing and catching practice. Last weekend I thought the Sharks were catching like real sharks and the ball seemed to be forever bouncing off their flippers.

The continued flakiness in the Blues’ backline and the Crusaders’ inability to score tries do not make for edge-of-the-seat stuff. Who knows from week to week which Hurricanes team will turn up.

OK, Blues are crap and we know it now. Hurricanes have blown hot and cold for years but could be peaking at the right time and the Crusaders are suffering from a lack of Dan Carter and Richie McCaw. No team can lose their two best players, and the coach, without missing a beat.

Maybe the opponents of the proposed new stadium for Dunedin won’t have to worry about going to court. The way the side went against the lowly Stormers on Friday night, they are unlikely to have a fan base that requires one.

Increasingly, it looks like time for the Highlanders to head for the hills. Otago and Southland simply do not have the player depth to keep competing at the Super Rugby level as evidenced by their heavy reliance on the draft.

This is a depth problem that is New Zealand wide and has been caused by the player drain. Go back a couple of years and there were enough Super 14 level first fives to go around all five teams, these days only one team is truely set at 10, the Chiefs with Stephen Donald.

The combination of low population and therefore limited market, plus poor performance over recent seasons and the probability that they will continue to miss the playoffs, makes it likely they will struggle to find sponsors willing to fork out the big sums that would draw quality talent and keep it.

On that showing southern rugby does not deserve a multimillion-dollar investment.

And given the constant flow of both top-tier and second-tier talent overseas, are there really sufficient players in this country now to construct five playoff-competitive teams?

No, but I don’t think there ever was. Maybe four contenders and one work in progress, but five contenders? Never happened.

The lights-out episode at North Harbour Stadium also raises the issue of professionalism.

Actually, I think that had more to do with New Zealand’s shoddy infrastructure than the rugby union.

The McAlister fiasco also throws up the question of the professionalism of the NZRU. How long can it be before there is acceptance of the glaringly obvious fact that the All Blacks are no longer the be-all and end-all of sport in New Zealand, let alone the rest of the rugby world.

They used to have an aura of invincibility. Had they maintained that, there was the opportunity to command the highest price for performance. But after failure to win at World Cups since 1987 that is gone.

And other nations are now starting to wake up and allow their players to be based overseas while being able to represent their country. The time is coming when the NZRU will have to relax the New Zealand based rule, and the sooner the better. They can no longer hold up the All Black jersey as a symbol of international rugby supremecy, two nations have won the World Cup on two separate occasions and New Zealand isn’t one of them.

New Zealand rugby will never compete with the money in England and Europe. Competitions there appear to be gathering strength and enjoy increasing crowds and financial backing, higher broadcasting fees.

Our players will continue to take their opportunities and grab the big money while they can and who can blame them?

Nobody really, and as pointed out, dangling an All Black jersey doesn’t keep the players here.

Nothing can be done to stop this. What can be changed is the ridiculous rule that players must be New Zealand residents to be eligible for the All Blacks.

Amen!