Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph says Australian teams play schoolboy rugby compared to Kiwi derbies
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph says that Australian teams were playing schoolboy rugby under the new Super Rugby format, compared to the gruelling season faced by New Zealand clubs.
While backing the concept of more local derbies under the competition's new system, Joseph said matches between Australian teams lacked the intensity of all-New Zealand clashes.
"We played four New Zealand teams in a row, that's a big ask because they are very physical," he told Wellington's Dominion Post.
"You watch the Waratahs play the Reds and it's different rugby ... it's like school stuff while we are at war."
His comments echo concerns from former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones about the revamped Super Rugby, which this year introduced country-based "conferences" in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia with five teams each.
With the top team from each conference guaranteed a spot in the play-offs, Jones said it made the competition uneven because South Africa and New Zealand had more player depth than Australia, making their conferences tougher.
Jones, who coached the Brumbies to a competition win in 2001, said the inclusion of the Melbourne Rebels this year had further diluted the pool of player talent in Australia.
"It was justified in terms of getting Australia an even share of the television money and that's the only reason," he told Radio Sport.
"There's no way anyone in their right sense can say Australia can have five top-class sides."
The revamped Super Rugby draw was designed to increase the number of local derbies, boosting interest in the competition.
Each team plays all four other sides in its country twice and four of the other five teams in each of the other conferences.
Jones said this meant a team could potentially make it to the final and win the competition without playing its top rivals during the season.
"It's an uneven competition because everyone doesn't play everyone," he said.
Despite concerns the bruising encounters in the New Zealand conference risked increasing the injury rate among players, Highlanders mentor Joseph supported more local derbies.
"I think it's great, mate. It's quite tribal, the Kiwi boys against the Kiwis ... certainly the guys are enjoying the derby matches," he said.
