Force hot tip to go

The rumour mill might be right and perhaps the Perth-based Western Force are going to be chopped from next year’s Super Rugby competition. It’s not a bad guess.

The Force are being bankrolled mostly by the Australian Rugby Union and partly by the proceeds of a bit of a whip around earlier in the year by players and fans.

The commodity boom has gone bust so Western Australia is no longer awash with corporate dollars for sponsorship and, not insignificantly, the Force have been just a little bit awful since their inception. If Australia is going to have only four teams in next year’s competition, the Force probably are the most vulnerable.

What everything hinges on is, unsurprisingly, money and specific- ally preserving the value of the current broadcast deal. All Sanzaar member unions have agreed that any change they implement to next year’s competition can’t result in a reduction of broadcast income.

It is their view that a reduction of teams from 18 to 15 doesn’t come with a reduction of content. The competition will still span the same time period and if anything, the reduction of teams — two being cut in Africa and one from Australia — will make more games of a more compelling nature than they now are.

It is understood New Zealand has already cleared the proposed changes with Sky Television and the South Africans are not anticipating problems with their broadcast partner. But the position in Australia is not so clear. Their broadcast partner, Fox, may not be so willing to accept