Can We Relegate The Wallabies To The Mitre 10 Cup?

If the Rugby Championship is too hard the Mitre 10 Cup could be just the ticket, writes Jamie Wall – and he's only half joking.

It’s a tough life for a Wallabies fan in 2016. Since the World Cup final they have suffered five straight losses – three of which were certified hidings – at the hands of both England and the All Blacks.

It’s clear the Wallabies finding The Rugby Championship a bit tough – maybe it’s time to try a competition where they might have a little more success. The good news is that there’s one in New Zealand called the Mitre 10 Cup.

If you're unfamiliar with New Zealand’s top provincial competition, it might be because it’s had various names over the years – it used to be the Air New Zealand NPC, then it was the ITM Cup. It’s also been slowly eroded of any All Black involvement, meaning the Wallabies won’t need to worry about getting too many more thrashings.

The 2016 Wallabies would be right at home, as this season’s play so far has seen some pretty sketchy defensive patterns and high score lines – the average after two rounds is 36-21.

In all seriousness, the Mitre 10 Cup could actually provide a helping hand to Australian rugby. Integrating their players into this provincial comp would probably do their development a world of good. It wouldn’t be unprecedented either – Brock James once turned out for Taranaki, Julian Huxley had a run for Northland and Christian Lealiifano had a season for Waikato.

All were short stints that went on to produce solid careers (unfortunately Lealiifano’s is on hold due to cancer treatment). If the next crop of Australian players could get a taste of who they may end up facing in the future when they pull on the gold jersey, it might produce fewer one sided results and give them confidence playing on New Zealand soil.

Richie McCaw last week publicly stated he wanted the Aussies to get better so at least it’d be a close game. It’s probably fair to presume that NZ Rugby agree with him, and that they’re getting a little bit worried about the fact that future Bledisloe tests might not even sell out, given their increasingly one-sided nature. So helping make Australian rugby at least competitive again would most definitely be in their best interests.

The current Australian provincial competition, the National Rugby Championship, is a noble effort to create some depth in the country. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated into any sort of national success. It’s currently dominated by a stacked Brisbane City side, who just seem to be the Queensland Reds in different jerseys. The most notable piece of play to come out its existence a terrible refereeing call.

It’s hard to believe that we’re joking about the Mitre 10 Cup being a radical saviour for a country that made it to the World Cup final last year. But something needs to change, and quickly, because Stephen Moore and Michael Cheika can’t keep blaming the referees forever.