As the Highlanders get ready to face the Brumbies in front of three men and a dog in Canberra tonight, rugby writer Steve Hepburn wonders what the future holds for Super Rugby. If it is all over, then what are the alternatives?
There are many top bands that have graced the stage.
The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd ... and then the best of them all, The Beatles.
The Beatles were the top of the tree and went from a pop band with the rather simple Love me Do to the majestic A Day in the Life.
They evolved and improved. They changed from basically a club band to a talented set of ground-breaking musicians, exploring different sounds and branching into new territory.
And when they had nothing left and it all came to a head they spilt up and never re-formed.
Super Rugby though has never evolved. It has never branched out and discovered new avenues.
But then again how can it evolve when, all is said and done, it is still just a game of rugby?
Super Rugby has just started its 25th season and even its most ardent supporter would admit there is trouble at mill.
Crowds are down everywhere, top players have left and are playing elsewhere while there just seems to be general disdain and lack of interest in much of it.
Australia is struggling as a result of small crowds and lack of interest from broadcasters while South Africa is said to be heading north.
So who is going to be Yoko Ono and come along and force the divorce? Who is going to get some wings and move off into something new?
Well, sorry this is not music. This is sport — about 30 guys on a field.
Super Rugby may be sick and not running on all cylinders but it is what we are stuck with.
It is a sport which has rules and cannot be drastically changed.
The reality is it is about broadcasters and product.
Every professional league — except perhaps the NFL — plays way too many games. Baseball in the United States has a 162-game season. The NBA has an 82-game regular season. The Big Bash goes on too long. Every league does.
Super Rugby has too many teams and too many games but it is like that so games can be put on television. Product is king.
With a return to the pure round robin next year there is hope people will like Super Rugby again. That appears doubtful.
The worldwide trend in sport is thinning crowds. Look at NBA games on television. There are empty seats everywhere at arenas.
People are doing other stuff. If it is just a run-of-the-mill game and not an event, crowds are sparse.
So what to do?
Simply give up on Super Rugby and get back to club rugby?
Fat chance. Top players will head off overseas before you can say Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da.
New Zealand will end up like Argentina and Brazil in football — all its top talent overseas. Lionel Messi moved to Spain when he was 13. New Zealand rugby players will be the same.
Introduce some new competition — in the end same sides, same players. Get the Pacific Islands involved — sorry too expensive. Link with Europe — players don’t want it.
So we appear stuck with Super Rugby. It can be promoted and there can be schemes to entice crowds but, in the end, it is a game, which happens every week.
It would be like John, Paul, George and Ringo rocking out every night of the week at the local.
Sooner or later, crowds would thin and interest would wane.
Perhaps we just have to simply wait and see. Or as the Beatles said — let it be.