Australia’s franchise cull could see the end of Super Rugby

SYDNEY: The Australian Rugby Union’s messy and protracted process of axing one of its five Super Rugby teams entered a potentially decisive phase yesterday when the governing body and the Western Force went into arbitration.

The ARU said in mid-April that the force or Rebels would be culled to allow the competition to contract from 18 back to 15 sides for the 2018 season.

Their initial hopes of an announcement within “48 to 72 hours” were quickly dashed when the Force, overwhelming favourites for the chop, launched legal action to defend their position.

The Rebels were always unlikely to be closed down given it would cost anything up to A$13 million (R136m) to buy out the franchise’s private owner and pay back the Victorian state government for their investment.

On Monday, the Force announced that support had been manifest in an offer of interest-free loans for thousands of fans who have said they will buy team shares, with the money repaid to Rugby WA rather than mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, who has backed the team.

Regardless of how or whether the initiative works, any backing for the Force is potentially bad news for the cash-strapped ARU, who are already facing mounting legal bills.

South Africa axed the Kings and Cheetahs with both sides expected to compete with Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Italian teams in the Pro12 competition next season.The Australian players’ union, which has understandably been vehemently opposed to the loss of an entire team’s worth of roster positions, has suggested replacing Super Rugby with a new competition without the South Africans.

Union boss Ross Xenos said there was no “clear vision” for the future of Super Rugby and proposed a new competition post-2020 featuring teams from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Pacific islands. – Reuters