SANZAR open to including Pacific Island team in Super Rugby; NZ Herald

SANZAR have praised the strong support and competitiveness of rugby in the Pacific Islands, saying they will not rule out their inclusion in a further Super Rugby expansion.

SANZAR boss Andy Marinos said the addition of a Pacific Island team into the Super Rugby competition was a serious consideration and one that would be assessed thoroughly.

"SANZAR's never deliberately ignored the Pacific Islands," Marinos told TVNZ.

"There's always been a natural transfer of players into Australia and New Zealand and you are seeing a lot of those guys coming through the system and are playing on a regular basis."

Marinos also didn't doubt the ability of the Pacific Island's team to perform once in the Super Rugby structure, saying they would certainly have a strong and competitive team and that would be an attractive asset moving forward.

A Pacific Island team already missed the cut with this year's expansion, SANZAR instead opting for teams from Japan, Argentina and South Africa.

Marinos said SANZAR would assess the value of a Pacific Island team against the others to see whether or not it was a viable option.

"It's going to be a case of modelling and positioning and seeing from a commercial and high performance perspective, how does it stack up and how could it fit into a structure should we look to expand," Marinos said.

"It's a continuous process of working through how we can get the best result out of the geographies we are looking at."

 Interesting idea, still don't know how SA qualified for another S18 rugby team ahead of a pacific island team. SA has had major problems sustaining all those teams. We will see if it is lip service or if next year they really examine the idea of a pacific island team.

I would support this one - replaced the bankrupt Kings with them and go back to review the conference system as well.   Get three Conferences - with the following teams being allocated:-

NZ Conference

Blues, Crusaders, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Highlanders, Pacific Islands

Australia Conference

Waratahs, Brumbies, Reds, Rebels, Force, Sunwolves

SA Conference

Stormers, Lions, Bulls, Sharks, Cheetahs, Jaguares

Round 1

Each team can then play all teams in the conference once and the lowest ranked  two teams in each Conference can then go into a Plate competition and the top 12 teams can then play each other in the Cup competition.  

Round 2 – Plate competition

The 6 teams play each other on a home and away basis for 4 places in the semis and finals – making a total of 15 matches in the Plate Competition

Round 2 – Cup Competition

All 12 teams must play each other in this competition. 

That will mean each team has to play 16 games as against the present 15 games – but that should not be a train smash.

I like that structure Mike. Could work. A little too much rugby I think, but still a realistic possibility. Also, it would keep the Japs in almost the same time zone, so that would help them. 
We should only have 5 Super Rugby teams, we don't have a big enough player pool to sustain team 6. 

 Base them in Auckland ,a ready made supporter base in the worlds biggest PI population .Be good way to help out our Pasifika Brothers !That setup looks good Mikey !

 Wynne Gray: This is bigtime for island nations; NZ Herald

Taking Super rugby games to places like Fiji tonight broadens the reach of the competition. But does it broaden the appeal enough for the competition bosses?

Chiefs, Crusaders and rugby fans in the Pacific will tune in to the duel in Suva as the series moves into its three game sprint to the playoffs. While those debates will playout so will talk about the tournament format.

It was encouraging to hear Sanzaar boss Andy Marinos discussing ideas around the shape of the competition and ways to bump up the fractured fervor about the tournament. There is no doubt about levels of excitement which will envelop Suva today and through the aftermath of tonight's match.

This is big time for the island nation with broadcasters sending pictures and words around the globe to showcase their piece of paradise.

Everyone gets a slice of the economic pie for this game however opponents of this venture say places like Fiji and Samoa cannot deliver sustained economic benefits to justify joining the New Zealand, Australian, South African, Argentine and Japanese partners.

However Marinos points to the quality of Pacific Island rugby as a decent counter to some of the modest quality from teams at the lower end of the 18 team conference-format competition.

Most of us in this part of the world will watch with great interest. It's in our time frame, these are two fine teams scrapping for top spot in their pool, we are interested to see the reaction in Suva and it's a welcome resumption after a month interlude.

Viewers in other parts of the globe may not agree but they probably wouldn't be watching anyway. There will be some Chiefs and Crusaders diehards lamenting the clip out of their domestic seat but they'll be watching.

This is the foundation. If all goes well, the next step is a Pacific side in a slimmed down round-robin competition. Then we'll be talking real rugby progress.

- NZ Herald

 Good for the game.

Not bad ou maaaaikie. I like the idea of the PIs being part f the nz conference. They are definitely the most dirty rugby players ever to have disgraced the noble game. Taking off a few kiwi heads via high tackles is no more than what the kbbs rchly deserve. hahahahahahahahahaha 

SANZAR's never deliberately ignored the Pacific Islands," Marinos told TVNZ.

"There's always been a natural transfer of players into Australia and New Zealand and you are seeing a lot of those guys coming through the system and are playing on a regular basis."

The PIs have propped up NZ rugby for many years and are now doing the same for Oz. Being the true sportsman I am I have always supported the PIs getting a fair deal. Something NZ and OZ have fought tooth and nail to ensure it doesn't happen. To be fair to nz the PIs have taken it all lying down and my guess is SA ha had to give them a helping hand. We always fall over backwards to help out!

It' s sheer hypocrisy for ou warped DUD to go on about "Our PI brothers" after the way nz has treated them for soooo long.  Who does he think he is fooling Bwahahahahhahahahahaha

 We are Pacific Islanders you thick piece of sh!t ,there are many in my family who are of Samoan ,Rarotongan and Niuean descent . Its none of your business so go fu.ck yourself .

 Ou warped DUD protesteth too loud and flies off on another childish rant.Warped DUD you have to understand that Tonga, Fiji and Samoa are NOT nz. I have to give this hapless dope some elementary lessons! What an empty head!
Hahahahahahhahahaha

Beeno the Chiefs & the Saders are playing a game of rugby. It would be a great opportunity for you to learn how the game should be played. 
One must remain optimistic

Chiefs score, 5 to 3 with kick to come.

 This is LONG overdue