Horan sees Samoan side based on Coast
WALLABIES great Tim Horan wants Pacific Island nations to be part of a new-look Super Rugby model, with their teams based out of cities in Australia – including the Gold Coast – and New Zealand.
The SANZAAR competition looks set for a major revamp from next year, with New Zealand Rugby having announced a wholesale review into every aspect following the outbreak of COVID-19.
International travel has been an exorbitant feature of the competition and with many flight paths closed off by the coronavirus crisis, there is speculation the teams from
South Africa and Argentina will be omitted from an AsiaPacific model of Super Rugby.
Horan said teams from those continents could play in their own conference and potentially meet the best AsiaPacific teams in a playoff series.
The dual World Cup winner told New Zealand’s Sky TV that Japan would ideally remain involved and eventually the US should be welcomed.
He also said the Pacific Island teams should be given a regular role in a prominent rugby competition, although he accepted they couldn’t be based in their home countries for financial reasons.
“We’ve got to keep supporting them. Whether we potentially have one of them in next year … can you base Tonga in Auckland? Can you base maybe Samoa on the Gold Coast for a period of time?
“The financial model has to stack up going forward because the broadcast revenue is not going to be there as much as it used to be.”
The man leading New Zealand’s review, lawyer and Blues chairman Don Mackinnon, said a more localised Super competition would be considered, along with the introduction of the Pacific Islands.