New Zealand dominance a factor in Super decision
New Zealand’s dominant 2016 Super Rugby season, providing four of the eight quarter-finalists, likely helped bring Sanzaar’s review to a head.
Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos hinted at that when expanding last night on the decision to axe three teams from next season.
The Hurricanes, Highlanders, Chiefs and Crusaders all had better records than the top Australian qualifiers — the Brumbies — yet the Highlanders were forced to travel to Canberra for a road quarter-final.
But rather than tweak the format to reward the better-performing sides, Sanzaar’s review seeks to even the competition so New Zealand teams won’t be as dominant in future.
“That was a very purple season coming out of New Zealand and full credit to them for the way their teams performed,” said Marinos, who insisted Sanzaar would continue to reward conference winners with home advantage.
“We believe, with the reduction of teams in two of the conferences now, we’re going to get an increased level of high performance and we won’t have as big a lopsided final structure that we’ve seen in previous years.”
As Australia contemplated the imminent demise of a Super Rugby franchise, accusing fingers were last night being pointed at the struggling Japanese Sunwolves. How come the competition’s least successful team weren’t in the firing line, too?
“There has been a significant amount of conversation around the Sunwolves and there continues to be, from a Sanzaar perspective, directly with the Sunwolves around making themselves more competitive and some key fundamentals that are missing from their structure,” said Marinos when questioned by Australian media last night.
“Part of our strategic review was how we wanted to position the competition. We believe if the high performance issues are addressed in Japan, there is a huge amount of potential in that market.
“There are a huge amount of players migrating to play there and they will also be hosting a Rugby World Cup.
“If you look at South Africa and Australia, the quality of the teams hasn’t always added value and that’s starting to impact at international level. It’s really important they get their strength back in their rugby structures.”