Super Rugby Axes 3 !!

[rowan]

1 That's not what SANZAR & World Rugby said. They clearly stated it was time to acknowledge Argentina had joined the ranks of the heavyweights, which was plain to see by their third place at the World Cup, finished ahead of NZ & Australia
2 Japan beat South Africa in their only encounter, but lost to Scotland and failed to progress from their pool. So far they're a one-hit wonder and haven't shown any sign of replicating that. Fiji beat the Lions in their only encounter. Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) has beaten the All Blacks, Tonga beat France at the 2011 tournament and Samoa won in Australia last time they met. Shall we chuck all them in too?
3 Argentina is closer to the SANZAR nations overall than Japan - and is the antipodes of none of them. It is also in the Southern Hemisphere, and this has frequently been referred to as a Southern Hemisphere championship. If it's not that, it's a meaningless, free-for-all circus; a place to dump anyone who doesn't play in Europe.
4 Argentina's season coincides with its SANZAR neighbors.'
5 So you yourself are suggesting Argentina should have done better last year, which is an acknowledgement of their potential. Nobody is expecting the Sunwolves to develop beyond whipping boy status. & it's your arguments which are stupid, not mine, so stop being an arrogant moron. They beat the subsequent finalists in the final round and thereby deprived them of a home final. Japan did diddly-squat.
6 & then after dismissing Argentina's acievements, you scrounge for those very few highlights the Sunwolves have actually managed to produce during their first two seasons as tournament whipping boys.
7 Argentina certainly trounced Japan in 2005 and has an 80% winning per centage against them, as far as I know. How is that wrong?
8 & remains as valid.

In summary, the Sunwolves are too far away and too weak for a competition which has been perceived since its outset as a Southern Hemisphere championship. It has served only to compound the issues of declining standards, excessive travel and loss of credibility. The Jaguares, meanwhile, have held their own and have vast potential, as you inadvertently alluded to yourself...

[rowan]

So the Kings, currently leading the Brumbies at HT as they look to extend their recent winning streak, are suddenly proving themselves worthy of the competition, while the Rebels are flatly refusing to go out without a (legal) fight. Does anyone suspect SANZAAR just might end up being forced to reverse its decision to cull the competition??

Brumbies fought back for the win, but it was a tight game. 10-19

[rowan]

Interesting perspective expressed here:

I said it in this column on March 28 - way before the Kings went on their winning run and also before the Cheetahs lost the plot after news came to light that their coach Franco Smith would be joining the Springboks - and I’m going to say it again; Super Rugby doesn’t need the number of teams reduced for it to be a better competition, it needs a change in its structure. Reducing the number of teams from 18 to 15 is pointless and flies in the face of everything Sanzaar hoped to achieve when the competition was expanded, first to 12, then 14, then 15 and now 18 teams.http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/super- ... wn-9293397

[rowan]

Latest:

THE Australian Rugby Union’s proposed ‘informal’ meeting to outline plans to cut a Super Rugby team won’t happen.

And it paves the way for a possible board challenge in the middle of the June Test window.

The governing body was willing to meet with anxious players and state unions this week to shed light on how it intends to shut down either the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels, amid a drawn-out process and legal battles involving both franchises.

It’s understood that meeting will not go ahead, largely because of scheduling issues.

That means a special general meeting of the ARU, which was triggered last Wednesday by the Victorian Rugby Union and Rugby Union Players’ Association, will proceed next month.

The ARU is working on a date to be announced in the coming days, but it is legally required to give members at least 21 days notice before any general meeting.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/propo ... be11960bf0

[rowan]

State-backing for the Rebels . . .

The Victorian Government welcomes the Melbourne Rebels’ commitment to remain part of the Super Rugby competition and not sell its licence.

A Super Rugby franchise in Melbourne is crucial for the growth of the game in Victoria, which is why the Government is working with the Melbourne Rebels, the Victorian Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union to ensure the club remains in the competition going forward.

The Victorian Government believes any decision to withdraw the Melbourne Rebels from the Super Rugby competition would be a retrograde step by the Australian Rugby Union.

Since the Melbourne Rebels were established in 2011, Victoria’s rugby union participation rates have increased by 97 per cent. In 2016, participation rates increased by 38 per cent to reach 15,829.

Melbourne has the fastest growing population in Australia and will soon become the nation’s most populous city. If the Australian Rugby Union wants to grow the game across the nation, Victoria and the Melbourne Rebels is an essential cornerstone of its strategy.

The governing body regularly turns to Melbourne for the big blockbuster events, such as British and Irish Lions tours and the Bledisloe Cup. Victoria has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the sport, so it would seem incongruent to withdraw the presence of ongoing, professional rugby from the State.

Rugby Union has made a tremendous contribution to the Victorian community. The VRU Pacific Island Emerging Leaders Program helps players with a Pacific Island background in areas of personal development, welfare and education.

Victoria is the sporting capital of the world and the nation’s leader for major events. Australian Rugby Union can only lay claim to being a truly national code in an international competition if Victoria is a key component of its plans.

The Government will continue to work with the Victorian Rugby Union, Melbourne Rebels and Australian Rugby Union.

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/statement ... ne-rebels/

[zer0]

Not sure how reliable and/or likely it is, but I've read Australian lawyers from elsewhere suggesting that any legal challenges against the ARU could, potentially, be nullified by SANZAAR simply cutting the ARU's licenses. Thus relieving them of their contracts/obligations/whatever with whichever franchise is cut.

[rowan]

They couldn't get rid of the Rebels, so it looks like it's going to have to be the Force, even though they have been there longer, are a slightly stronger franchise, have a bigger domestic competititon (including a sizable expat South African community) and are the only team in the western half of the country. Real shame, but the writing appears to be on the wall for Perth. They're effectively about to be supplanted by the hapless Rebels . . .

HOST of Western Force stars led by Wallaby Adam Coleman are set to sign with rival franchises now the ARU’s contract moratorium has been lifted, further dimishing the Perth club’s prospects of survival.

Coleman is expected to be one of several Force players to sign with Melbourne Rebels, the other side named by the ARU as being in the firing line as Super Rugby redacts from 18 to 15 teams next year.

While the ARU has been left hamstrung by legal action and threats from both clubs, their move on Monday to lift the contract freeze is expected to hasten the Force’s demise.

Rebels owner Andrew Cox has said he will not sell the license of the club, leaving the Force as the club to be dumped.

Players at the club read the tea leaves weeks ago and have been secretly negotiating deals with rival clubs, waiting for the moratorium to be lifted.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... ff32496bf5

[Ross. S]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/40122015

Cheaters offered a spot in the Pro12!

(You'd think there'd be enough cheaters in the Pro12, what with 4 Irish teams )

[rowan]

Good move. Take the Kings & Sunwolves with them.

[rowan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/40122015

Cheaters offered a spot in the Pro12!

(You'd think there'd be enough cheaters in the Pro12, what with 4 Irish teams )

Cheetahs would probably win it too

[rowan]

"The Western Force legal battle for Super Rugby survival has taken a new twist with the club agreeing to arbitration."

Indeed, it's the Force who will have to go, the Rebels having more of a legal standing as a privately-owned franchise - thus they basically supplant the Western Australians, who were a better side overall.

[rowan]

Full story here:

THE Super Rugby downsizing saga could finally have an end-date with Rugby WA and the Australian Rugby Union agreeing to proceed to arbitration in August over their dispute.

Rugby WA announced the development after a damaging 58 days since the ARU announced it would cut one Australian Super Rugby franchise, and the two clubs in the firing line were the Western Force and the Melbourne Rebels.

Both clubs rejected the ARU’s capacity to shut them down and the Force immediately took legal action against the governing body at the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Rugby WA served the ARU with a writ injuncting them from cutting the Force, based on an alliance agreement between the ARU and Rugby WA signed last year during the ARU’s takeover of the Force.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/super ... b9b3d3813c

[rowan]

So the big date has been set. Why couldn't all of this have waited until after the final? I wonder. Was SANZAAR simply bowing to public pressure by making so many decisions while the competition was in full swing? This article also suggests the Cheetahs and Kings could both play in Europe


Cape Town - SA Rugby has called a special general meeting for next month to confirm the four South African entrants into a revised Super Rugby competition from 2018.The meeting will take place in Cape Town on July 7, 2017.

In a press statement released on Wednesday, SA Rugby said the general meeting has the constitutional responsibility for “determining the SA teams to participate in Super Rugby”.

Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, said the special general meeting would decide on a proposal from the executive council which, in turn, would have received a recommendation on the participants from the franchise committee, whose membership is representatives of the Super Rugby teams.

The proposal will also be debated by the non-franchise committee - comprising the CEOs of the 14 provincial rugby unions - before reaching the special general meeting.

A FUTURE IN EUROPE?

While nothing has been made official, the general consensus is that the two South African teams excluded from the competition will be the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings.

There is a strong possibility for those two franchises to the PRO12 competition, Sport24 understands.

The PRO12 is a European competition that currently includes club teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

It looks set to be rebranded PRO14.


http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/SuperRug ... s-20170614

[rowan]

So it's official then:

The Cheetahs and Kings have agreed with SA Rugby to end their Super Rugby Participation Agreement from 2018, it has been announced.

The Force are almost certain to join them, due to legal complications involved with removing the Rebels.

[rowan]

Seems a shame now, with the improved performance of the latter this year. Obviously they just needed a bit more time. I personally think the expansion to 18 was fine in principle but that they just screwed the whole thing up by including two South African conferences with Japan playing in one of them. 3 conferences of 6 teams with the Jaguares playing in NZ and Fiji in Australia would have been a much more viable proposition. So what's going to happen now? Back to 3 groups of 5, and the continuing farce of the Sunwolves' involvement. I suspect the problems are not over yet.

[rowan]

Meanwhile Force beat the Rebels, adding to the fiasco . . .

[rowan]

The plot thickens...

SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux has confirmed the Cheetahs and the Kings could play in more than one European competition next season.

SA Rugby announced on Friday that both teams are out of Super Rugby after reaching a settlement agreement to explore other international competition opportunities.

All indications are that they will join the Pro12, raising questions whether the Cheetahs and Kings will then be eligible to compete in the Champions Cup or Challenge Cup.

Roux said on Friday that he cannot confirm which league competition the two franchises will join.

'Negotiations are far down the line and to be fair, we're never going to steal the thunder of any other competition in terms of announcing its future. I can confirm the Kings and Cheetahs could play in the same competition and they could also play in more than one competition.'

Roux said the Kings and Cheetahs were not forced into the settlement to exit Super Rugby in favour of a move to the northern hemisphere, and admitted that they were legally within their rights to contest their axing, but opted not to.


http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/detail ... -two-comps

[rowan]

A couple of interesting stories I came across this arvo:

IF the Australian Rugby Union want to kill the Western Force, they are going to have to defeat the riches of mining magnate Andrew Forrest first.

The Force’s bid for survival received a massive boost on Saturday when Forrest pledged to do everything within his powers to help the Perth-based franchise avoid the chop.

Forrest, the chairman of Fortescue Metals, is valued at $4.5 billion according to Forbes.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/mini ... acfce3ea09

Live speech here: https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/rugb ... ker!633286

Meanwhile . . .

SA Rugby is also in talks with Premiership Rugby about including four South African teams, including Griquas and the Pumas, in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/detail ... y-overseas

[rowan]

A deal to expand the Pro12 to 14 teams from next season has been agreed, BBC Scotland understands.

The South African sides Cheetahs and Southern Kings will join the league after losing their Super Rugby status.

The six-year deal is likely to benefit the league to the tune of an extra £6m per season from the South African Rugby Union and additional television income.

All elements of the deal have been agreed and, once legally ratified, could be formally announced next week.

The new Pro14 league will kick-off in the first week of September and will comprise two conferences of seven teams. Each conference will have one Scottish side, one South African side, one Italian side and two each from Wales and Ireland.

The winners of each conference will qualify automatically for the semi-finals, while the teams placed in second and third in each conference will be drawn together in play-offs for the remaining two semi-final places.

The Pro12 currently raises around £12m in television revenues, meaning the addition of the two South African sides represents a significant uplift as the Scottish, Irish and Welsh rugby unions try to bridge the financial gap to the English Premiership and French Top 14 teams.

The increase equates to around £500,000 in additional income per season for the existing Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Italian sides in the Pro12.

The Cheetahs and the Southern Kings are the weakest of South Africa's Super Rugby teams, and they were cut from next season's competition, opening the way for the move to join the Pro12.

One of the anticipated clauses for the deal is that the two franchises will commit to strengthening their squads, to ensure the competitive nature of the competition is protected.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/40649652

[rowan]

Jaguares have done well enough in their first two seasons to justify their inclusion... but he makes a good point...

[rowan]

& so it begins . . .

Australia’s Super Rugby culling saga has entered a potentially decisive phase as the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and the Western Force go into arbitration.

Sad day for rugby on the West Coast of Australia, and for the game in general. The hapless Rebels have effectively replaced the Force. This whole thing has become a complete shambles.

[rowan]

[rowan]

I'll be surprised if the Kings & Cheetahs don't run riot . . . & then Super Rugby will beg them to return

[rowan]

Fighting talk from the Force. This could get ugly...

BILLIONAIRE mining magnate Andrew Forrest has issued a blunt warning to the ARU: if you want to cut the Force, you are going to have to defeat me first.

The findings from last week’s arbitration hearing between RugbyWA and the ARU is set to be handed down within days.

If the Force win, they will survive the axe until at least 2020.

But if they lose, the ARU is set to cull them from the Super Rugby competition.

Under that scenario, the Force are almost certain to appeal to the Supreme Court if they win a right of appeal.

Forrest has pledged to do whatever it takes to save the Force, and he let the ARU know he means business.

“I want to be very clear to the ARU. You try to cut the Western Force, you have to go through me first, and then all of our players, and then our supporters, and then all of the parents of young players and, indeed, all proud Western Australians,” Forrest said.

Continues here: https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/bill ... 2420b541d9

[rowan]

Perth officially out. Can't believe the Rebels and Sunwolves are still in there and the Force are being axed. I guess Perth is a little too far away for the Pro 14, so that'll be the end of professional rugby on the West Coast, which I believe has the third largest player community in Australia after Sydney and Brisbane.