Super Rugby Pacific administrators are keen to revive the “Super Round” concept that was previously staged in Melbourne, but in what would be a bold and hugely popular move the event could be set for a shift to Fiji.
A report in Fiji last week raised the prospect of a “Bula Round”, and speaking on the ESPN Scrum Reset podcast on Monday, SRP chief executive Jack Mesley confirmed conversations were happening to see if the idea could become a reality.
“I certainly hope so. How good would it be? It would be awesome… it’s a really special event day up there in Fiji,” Mesley told ESPN when asked whether there was a chance the concept would return.
“And yeah, we are investigating it. I’m certainly keen to bring back Super Round. And we’re having a number of discussions with different territories about that. And Fiji is certainly one of them.
“I think it’d be a great road trip for rugby fans to go out there and see a weekend of Super Rugby and get a great cultural experience and tie it on to a couple of days on the islands or in Nadi and have a holiday. Logistically, there would have to be a hell of a lot going into it.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST WITH JACK MESLEY HERE
Fijian Drua have been the standout success story of Super Rugby Pacific, which is now into its fourth season but first as an 11-team competition, with the Pacific islanders playing in front of sell-out crowds at home in Lautoka and Suva.
No other atmosphere in Super Rugby Pacific comes close to that at a Drua home game, with merchandise sales and television ratings surging in Fiji since the team’s inclusion in 2022.
Pushed on whether those logistical limitations – there is currently no stadium equipped with the requisite lights for evening matches, while changing rooms and training facilities would also likely need to be upgraded – would prove too great of an obstacle to overcome, Mesley said he was optimistic solutions could be found.
“Yeah, I think it is possible [but] it would require some infrastructure,” Mesley continued. “So the discussions we’re having up there are also about the infrastructure that would need to be to enable that. So things like lights in Nadi, Lautoka, to enable night games, because if you’re playing five games in a weekend [you’ll need to play at night]; air conditioned change rooms to enable double-headers; those types of things we would definitely need.
“But yeah, we’re investigating all those things because I think the Drua are a really integral part of our competition, a real point of difference from us to other competitions, and to get as many people out there to see what it’s like would be excellent.”
Mesley also revealed the numbers that support the narrative that this year’s SRP competition was the best on record, through five rounds at least, with television ratings up in both Australia and New Zealand, while Fiji’s Walesi streaming app was booming.
“Yeah, they’re having a great season,” Mesley told ESPN.
“So Sky [Sport] put out some data, I think last week at the conclusion of round four that they were up about 12.5% for the same period last year. Stan [Sport] also up over double digit, I think they were 17%, if my memory serves correctly. And then also in Fiji, the numbers are off the charts, they’re up about 40%.
“And so they just keep breaking records week after week. So last week, they put out a number that was about, I think, 396,000 people on the Weseli app, which is, you know, in terms of percentage of population, just phenomenal. So TV’s great.
“All of our social metrics are off the charts as well. And the crowds we’re seeing, you know, but crowds take time. But we’re definitely up on [the] previous period last year, which is good.”
Those positive numbers are a large part down to the competition’s evenness.
“I think it’s 9.6 points, the average margin, 44% of games have been four points or less,” Mesley explained. “So that concentration of close matches, combined with high point scoring, the best season ever of Super Rugby Pacific after five rounds with an average of 62.4 points per match. And then run metres, I think we’re in the top three or four seasons ever for run metres after five rounds.
“So I think the combination of lots of tries, great style of play with run metres being really high, and then really close margins is giving us a great combination, which is driving those results.”
