Sunwolves axed in Super shake-up

Super Rugby fans might commiserate with the Sunwolves, but news of a revamped – and simple – 14-team round-robin format in 2021 will be celebrated with great gusto.

Sanzaar has declared it will cull the Sunwolves from its competition because it had been advised by the Japan Rugby Football Union earlier this month that it would no longer be in a position to financially underwrite the team’s participation beyond 2020.

The next commercial broadcast window will start in 2021, and Sanzaar’s decision to remodel the tournament and kill off the unpopular conference system indicates it wants to go to the bargaining table with a product that holds greater appeals to fans and commercial partners alike.

While the Sunwolves can’t claim to have been blindsided by Sanzaar’s decision – their omission has been widely flagged in recent weeks – the club will be bitterly disappointed to receive the news six months before the World Cup tournament is staged in Japan.

Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos said the future of the Sunwolves, a team that comprises a large number of New Zealanders and is coached by former All Black Tony Brown, would be determined by the JRFU.

He added Sanzaar was seeking ways to launch an alternative competition, noting the importance of working with the JRFU and other stakeholders.

‘‘We have presented options to them around the establishment of a Super Rugby Asia-Pacific competition structure including Japan, the Pacific Islands, North and South America and Hong Kong,’’ Marinos said.

GETTY IMAGES The Sunwolves, who joined Super Rugby in 2016, are being dumped from the competition.

NZC chief executive David White, left, praised Haidee Tiffen’s contribution but former White Ferns captain Suzie Bates, right, had her differences with the national women’s coach.