Sunwolves exit ‘lousy timing’

OPINION: Tears will hardly be flowing in the packed streets of Tokyo at the Sunwolves’ Super Rugby axing, but Sanzaar is guilty of a lousy sense of timing.

The decision to dump the Japanese-based franchise isn’t a wrong one, but it has come at a time when the Sunwolves have finally started to find their feet and Japan is poised to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

World Rugby – which is endeavouring to make the game more global with its proposed Nations League – must be cringing at Sanzaar’s call.

This is basically a business decision. Sanzaar’s call to pull the Sunwolves after the 2021 competition is a tacit admission the Japanese experiment hasn’t produced the commercial boost first envisaged, or the television ratings.

It was wrong to let Japan into the Super Rugby fold in 2016 ahead of a Pacific franchise given the respective playing depths.

The Sunwolves were last overall in 2016 with two wins, finished bottom of the Africa 1 conference and second-last overall in 2017 with two wins, and were bottom of the Australian conference – and last overall – in 2018 despite three wins.

Ironically, they have looked at their strongest in 2019 with one win in the first four rounds – a 30-15 victory over Chiefs in Hamilton – and a couple of bonus points.

They have been on the improve under the tutelage of Kiwi – firstly Jamie Joseph, then another ex-All Black Tony Brown this year, assisted by former Canterbury halfback Scott Hansen.

Their issue, however, is a paucity of Japanese presence. Only four Japanese-born players were in the starting lineup against the Chiefs – with just three in the team that ran on against the Reds in a 35-31 defeat in Tokyo last weekend.

Half the Sunwolves’ 2019 squad are Japaneligible players – but 50 per cent of that group were foreign-born, including inspirational captain Michael Leitch.

Some wags have been calling the Sunwolves ‘‘New Zealand C’’. Hardly surprising when the lineup includes Jason Emery, Michael Little, Hayden Parker and Jason Emery, who struggled for regular gigs at Kiwi Super Rugby teams.

Take nothing away from them though. Little has been a revelation in midfield this year and Parker is one the competition’s best goalkickers.

But would Japanese rugby juniors be inspired to play for a side so devoid of Japanese faces?

The Sunwolves have not lacked support. They have been drawing crowds of 15,000 at Tokyo’s Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium – more the the champion Crusaders’ average attendance in Christchurch. Holding home games in Singapore, however, has proved a box office disaster, with fewer than 5000 fans rattling the cavernous 55,000 seat National Stadium.

The reality is most floating sports fans in Japan – where Sumo wrestling, baseball and football are people’s passions – would scarcely have heard of the Sunwolves. And those who have would struggle to identify with a hybrid franchise with a token smattering of Japanese players and a burgeoning foreign legion stacked with southern hemisphere swagmen.

It’s no surprise that the New Zealand and Australian unions went to bat for the Sunwolves – the Japanese franchise provides a pathway for another tier of players from the Anzac nations.

The Sunwolves have been sacrificed on the altar of expediency.

The South African franchises have been squealing about the extra travel demands incurred through having an Asian team in Super Rugby – particularly one which doesn’t draw an audience in the republic.

Sanzaar has been under pressure to raise the quality of a competition which has been struggling under the strain of the rugby diaspora to Europe.

Just two years ago, there were 18 teams in Super Rugby before the competition was cut to 15 when the Western Force and two South African clubs (the Southern Kings and Cheetahs) were dumped and defected to Europe’s Pro14 league.

Fourteen teams is a better fit. Politically, it’s easier for Sanzaar to give the Sunwolves the bullet than suggest cutting another Australian or South African team, who are, at least, replete with homegrown players.

Sanzaar has offered the olive branch of a second division, linked to Western Australian tycoon Twiggy Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby league.

The Sunwolves could join Perth’s Western Force and teams from Fiji, Samoa, Hong Kong and Singapore in the second tier. There is also talk of a second Australian team and a side from Malaysia.

A second tier could, ultimately, lead to a promotion-relegation series, giving the likes of the Sunwolves and the Force a shot at the big-time again.