It’s January. Time for some rugby

The dismantling of Super Rugby’s clumsy competition format should, quite rightly, be cause for celebration.

That will be the case for most fans who have remained loyal to this tournament for the last 25 years, despite Sanzaar’s best attempts to blow their minds and send them to the brink of insanity by tinkering with its structure, adding teams and inserting the conference system in recent times.

Next year Super Rugby will revert to a pure round-robin, comprising 14 teams. The biggest loser will be the Sunwolves, who will be dumped at the end of this season.

This is a cruel outcome, given the success of the World Cup in Japan last year. But there’s no going back. Their fate will soon be sealed.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Super Rugby starts tomorrow, and you can bet the weather will be hot. Just let global warming try to stop the 2020 edition.

1. The Sunwolves, who only joined Super Rugby in 2016, never stood a chance of making playoffs and are extremely unlikely to qualify for the top eight this year.

There are multiple reasons for their demise. It’s been reported Sanzaar wanted the Japan Rugby Football Union to help prop up the Sunwolves to the tune of about $10 million a season.

Then there’s the issue of travel, with the South African teams hardly overjoyed at having to fly to Singapore or Japan to play the Sunwolves in the crossover games.

Of course politics will have also played a role in all this. But the upshot is the Sunwolves will be embarking on a long farewell tour.

2. Here’s a quick refresher on the conference system.

In case anyone has forgotten the five New Zealand teams are lumped together in one group, the four Aussie sides and the Sunwolves are in another and the four South African teams and Argentina’s Jaguares are in the remaining pool.

Every team will play 16 regular season games, with eight in home and away fixtures against their conference rivals.

The remaining eight will be against four opponents from each of the other two conferences.

3. Good news. There are no major law changes.

While Sanzaar will appoint a ‘‘tackle technique review officer’’ to keep an eye on players who execute poor technique in upright tackles, there will be no on-field sanctions.

Instead a warning may be sent to the player and his coach.

4. You can bet there will be controversies.

Plenty, in fact. It can add to the colour of this industry. Or suck the life out of it.

Either way it’s guaranteed. If anyone has a spare moment, offer a prayer to the rugby gods that the officials play hardball when it comes to pulling the reins on fast defensive lines. And they should keep hammering away until teams heed the message.

The concussion issue isn’t going to go away, either. World Rugby has moved swiftly on this, and is to be commended. Vigilance from all parties will once again be key.

5. And don’t forget the earlier kickoff times.

The 7.35pm starts in New Zealand have been ditched, with evening fixtures to begin at 7.05pm.

It’s a positive move. Woeful crowds for Super Rugby are now the norm. Anything that involves trying to get families back to the game has to be a good thing.

6. If the New Zealand teams stutter in the early rounds, new All Blacks coach Ian Foster shouldn’t panic.

If he does, he’d best chuck in the towel and concentrate on growing pumpkins for a living.

For sure, there will be some bleating from the stands – and the paying customer has every right to complain if their team produces slop on the park – but the All Blacks coach has to rise above this.

If Foster learned anything from working as Steve Hansen’s assistant for eight years, it’s you don’t win test matches in the summer and autumn.

7. For all we know Foster may have already settled on his captain.

Or maybe he’s going to bide his time and assess the field. With Kieran Read retired from test footy, a replacement must be found.

With Sam Whitelock in Japan on a playing sabbatical (returning after Super Rugby), Foster may pick his skipper from those who have stayed in New Zealand.

Sam Cane (Chiefs), Patrick Tuipulotu (Blues), Dane Coles and TJ Perenara (Hurricanes), and Scott Barrett (Crusaders) are All Blacks, and will captain their teams. Cane (like Whitelock) has captained the test side in the past.

The question for Foster is whether he feels comfortable rewarding Whitelock, surely the frontrunner if he stayed at the Crusaders, with the honour of leading his country when he has been over yonder raking in the yen.