The Force back into top-flight rugby
THE Western Force are set to make one of the most improbable comebacks to topflight rugby the code has ever seen following the formation of a five-day domestic competition next month.
Booted out of Super Rugby three years ago, the Force are rare winners from the coronavirus pandemic, with the Perth-based franchise reportedly to join the NSW Waratahs, Brumbies, Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels in the new tournament.
Set to replace the suspended Super Rugby that involved teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan, the domestic tournament will see Australia’s five professional rugby outfits playing together for the first time since 2017.
According to Nine Media, mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has approved a plan to enable the Force to rejoin the fold — provided government restrictions and guidelines on travel and gatherings allow it.
The five teams are set to play a home-and-away roundrobin tournament starting on the first weekend of April.
The coronavirus outbreak is the unlikely push factor reuniting two organisations and the West Australian rugby community.
The pandemic forced Forrest to pull the pin on the first full season of Global Rapid Rugby this week.
MAJOR League Rugby, the 12-team North American circuit that had started its third season, announced yesterday that it will cancel the remainder of the 2020 campaign because of the coronavirus outbreak. Health and safety guidelines from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have banned large gatherings to combat the COVID-19 crisis.
A week after issuing a 30day pause to the regular season, the rugby union league decided to shut down any attempt to restart the season and begin preparing for the 2021 season instead.