Super Rugby’s restructure hits SA
Local sides Cheetahs and Kings could be removed as Sanzaar implements new format next year
The identity of the two South African teams and one Australian team to be cut from Super Rugby remains unclear after South Africa‚ New Zealand Australia and Argentina Rugby (Sanzaar) made the announcement yesterday.
Sources indicated last month that the Cheetahs and Southern Kings would be cast off from the SA Conference while the Melbourne Rebels are set to go from Australia. But Sanzaar would not confirm the identities of the axed franchises‚ only where they could come from.
SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux confirmed that the decision to reduce SA’s Super Rugby participants from six to four was a decision that had been unanimously agreed at executive level.
“The 18-team Super Rugby competition has not worked and we had to face up to that hard fact. The integrity of the format and lack of competitiveness in too many matches were major issues that needed addressing,” Roux said.
“We’ve had to acknowledge that the dilution of talent and resources across six franchises – at a time when the rand weakness has led to more departures to Europe and Japan – has seriously affected our ability to compete across the board.”
The tournament will now be split into three conferences of five teams each –New Zealand‚ Australia (including Japan’s Sunwolves) and South Africa (including Argentina’s Jaguars).
Teams will play against the other teams in their conference on a home and away basis (eight matches) and against four teams each from the remaining two conferences (eight matches). It means that not all teams face each other each year. – TMG Digital