Brisbane Tens to be downsized

THE second edition of the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens will be downsized to 12 teams after plans for a Western Australian team fell through.

Organisers hoped to put together a WA Barbarians side to keep Perth rugby fans engaged after the controversial closure of the Western Force.

But those hopes have been dashed due to concerns it would not be strong enough to compete with other Super Rugby teams.

“We tried extremely hard to find a way to continue to include a team from Western Australia in next year’s tournament,” Brisbane Global Rugby Tens chief executive Rachael Carroll said.

“Sadly, during negotiations with several parties it became clear that we would not be able to guarantee (it) would be able to meet the player quality obligations of a Super Rugby side.”

Samoa, one of 14 teams that featured in the inaugural tournament, also won’t be involved. Nor will French glamour club Toulon or the Blue Bulls of Pretoria.

The 2018 event will have three pools of four teams.

All nine Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby franchises will be involved, along with Panasonic Wild Knights (Japan) and Section Paloise (France) and Fiji.