Sunwolves axed, format revised
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.
The Sydney Morning Herald this week reported a potential tieup with Australian billionaire Andrew ‘‘Twiggy’’ Forrest for the new competition.
While fans will feel some sympathy for the Sunwolves, given they have proved competitive this season after struggling to win games since joining the tournament in 2016, they will be rapt that Sanzaar has finally returned to a round-robin format.
Gone is the convoluted conference system that even players found difficult to understand unless they returned to the Sanzaar manual for a refresh of how the rules worked. With the three conferences wiped out, each team will play every other team home or away each season.
This means 13 matches for each team, with two byes, in the regular season and the number of home and away matches varying between six to seven based on a two-year alternate match schedule.
This will lead to a new top-six finals series. The top two teams at the end of the regular season will receive a bye in the first week of the sudden-death phase, before hosting the semifinals against the winners of the knockout round between teams ranked three to six.
Marinos said Sanzaar had held a ‘‘substantial review’’ of Super Rugby over the last 18 months.
‘‘The decision to further consolidate the competition format to a 14-team round robin was not taken lightly.
‘‘It has involved some detailed analysis and a thorough review of the current and future rugby landscape, tournament costs, commercial and broadcast considerations and player welfare in line with our Strategic Plan,’’ he said.
Sanzaar has tinkered with the competition on a regular basis since it was launched with 12 teams in 1996.
The decision to try to reach into new markets resulted in Super Rugby being expanded to 14 teams in 2006, and 15 between 2011 and 2015.
When the competition involved 18 teams for the next two seasons, it was clear it was too cumbersome and the extra travel unpopular.
Super Rugby was contracted to 15 teams when the Western Force (Australia), Cheetahs and Kings (both South Africa) were dropped in late 2017.
While the JRFU’s decision not to underwrite the Sunwolves was a major blow, it’s also believed that South Africa objected to the Japanese team’s inclusion due to the extra travel demands.