Moffett wants less, not more

Former NZ Rugby boss David Moffett says the Super Rugby competition would be ‘‘dead in five years’’ unless Sanzaar reduced the number of teams - and that could mean taking one off New Zealand.

Moffett, a long-time critic of Sanzaar’s determination to keep expanding Super Rugby, was responding to a report that a Sanzaar review suggests Australia and South Africa could drop a team each to allow the competition to be reduced to 16.

The inclusion of extra sides from South Africa (the Kings), Japan (the Sunwolves) and Argentina (Jaguares) this year resulted in Super Rugby blowing out to 18 teams, requiring a complex format to accommodate all games within the allocated window.

No-one seems satisfied with the current structure, but finding a satisfactory outcome for all 28 stakeholders is complex.

The review also proposed other models; expansion or taking two teams off South Africa.

Moffett, also a former NRL chief executive between 1999-2001, couldn’t manage an enthusiastic response when told a new 16-team model was presented to the Australian Rugby Union board last week.

‘‘It doesn’t go far enough,’’ said Moffett, who labelled the current format as ‘‘absolutely pathetic’’.

‘‘I know that my views on the future of Super Rugby will not hit a very good chord in New Zealand. I understand that, but what I am talking about is the future of rugby in the southern hemisphere.’’

If Sanzaar don’t reduce the number of teams, he says: ‘‘It will be dead in five years. They don’t have a choice, in my view. They have tried this expansion model and it is already not working.’’

Moffett said it would be better for Sanzaar to strip the competition back to 12 teams, meaning New Zealand, Australia and South Africa contribute just four each and play each other twice.