Sunwolves cut from Super Rugby

The Sunwolves have been jettisoned from Super Rugby after three years in the competition.

The Japanese team was expected to be informed of their fate via phone hook up on Wednesday afternoon.

In a plan first revealed by the Herald last year, Super Rugby will return to a round-robin format with 14 teams.

The SANZAAR partners Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina will not announce the changes formally until Friday, according to a statement.

But it is understood the competition in its current format will run its course for the term of the broadcast deal, meaning 2020 will be the Sunwolves' final season.

The move will be a blow to Australia's Super Rugby franchises, who saw the Sunwolves' ongoing involvement as integral to the commercial growth of their businesses and the wider game in Australia.

I t will also be widely criticised giving the timing. This year Japan will host the Rugby World Cup, the first time the event will be held in Asia.

South Africa are widely acknowledged to have led the charge to have the team axed, given the increased travel burden on its teams. SA Rugby holds considerable sway around the SANZAAR negotiating table given their partner broadcaster Super Sport generate the most revenue to the Super Rugby and Rugby Championship broadcast deal.

I think the main problem is that the Subnwolves is using topo many non-Japanese players and they raid the other countries players to augment their teams,    Some top players  from  for instance the Pacific Islands and all three Zanzaar countries bar Argentina are playing for the Sunwolves.  

It is no only the travel - I think it is also a fact that for the main broadcasters funding Super Rugby - like Supersport in particular - the Sunwolves is a loss-making exercise  and it is a fact that or years  now Supersport in fact had a major impact on what is allowed in Super Rugby and  wat not.

Remember how they orchestrated the issue of reducing the number of teams from 18 to 15.   However, it is not only  Supersport who has a problem with the present scenario,  I think for the various franchises the inclusion of the Sunwolves cost them a lot of money.   

I think the feeling is that the inclusion of a combined Pacific Islands team could be easier to handle and inclusion of such a team could be handled easier.  That is where the change would work - since all SA teams normally have one asway tour in Australiasia - they normally travel there and play four away games in the process - namely two in New Zealand and two in Australia.    Th Pacific Islands team could be included in the Australian Conference 0 strengthening that conference considerably and at the same time  include them in the normal tours to Australasia - something which is not possible in the present scenario where SA teams and those of the other SH tams must make special trips to play the away games against the Sunwolves, 

We will have to see what comes out on Friday - I believe that the Pacific Islands option  or the return of the Western Force will come up - but lets wait and see.

However, if they are eliminated which NZ teams will win their games against the Sunwolcves to keep respectability in the various conferences - the Chiefs lost against them badly and the Blues struggled to beat them?                       

Dumping the Western Force was dumb, they had good public support, the team that should have been dumped is the Rebels. 

The Blues have not shaped up for some time and nz have 5 teams. Drop them and get in an Islander side. 

For too long the nz parasites have exploited the poor Islanders. 

Save Cloudy from anymore embarrasment

They were discussing this on the talk back today and they were saying the one thing staying the same is the conference set up .

They gave 2 reasons for this, the first was it cuts down on travel costs and it was the only way they can get a SA team into the finals without forking over a fortune to the refs.

(I am only  joking about the first reason)

CF

I accept your joke - but seriously the upcoming Hurricanes game has been problematic for years when played at home -  the visiting opposing teams always had to face a 16 player Hurricanes team.   The 16th player - the refs - were often the real MOM's in games.     

20 -1 penalty count last week from a SA ref, think that says it all

Finally, sense prevails. Now we just need to get rid of the Argies. We play in them in the Championship. Why should they also front as provincial team. 

If the argies want to have any meaningful impact then they would need to field more than 1 professional team. I would even go as far as to state that South America needs to come up with their own conference or league structure. 

Uruguay always managed to get a team to the world cup. Brazil seem to producing the sort of rugby players. So why do the Argies not organise a league in their own back yard. 

Argetina can have 3 teams - Buenos Aires, Salta and Mendoza. Uruguay to have 2. Brazil to have 2. That gives them 7 professional teams. 

I would even go as far as to state that each country have their own league phase. Pre June Internationals and then switch to a knock-out cup competition hosted in one country over 6 weeks. 

Aus, NZ, SA can then send their top 3 or 4 teams to the cup, with another 2 qualifying teams from South America. That way, everyone wins. 

Considering that we are having so many derbies, why not just do it properly and create some excitement. That way each country will send their best teams to play against each other. 

CF

I watched the game you refer to a number of times and hat is clear that a major problem is the poor scrumming of the Rebels in scrumming - 6 penalties - and then there were too many dangerous neck-high tackles.   But I am not one to justify penalties at all, but it is indeed a very skewd penalty count.   

The story you tell  about SA teams is utter nonsense.   There was no way that the SA teams would have been in the play-offs in recent years.   I would worry very much about NZ teams this year,  At this stage there are  3 teams  in the play-off level - ie from 1 to 8 on the overall log. 

The Highlanders would have been very near to out if not given two points for the cancelled game last week.   If they lose again in Round 6 they will be out of the top 8 teams.   Thus far the Blues won one game and lost 4  - one loss being in SA - and the Chiefs have won no games - they even lost to the Sunwolves and drew against the Hurricanes,   My own forecast is that if the Hurricanes lose in Round 2 - they would also be on a slippery slope on the way out of the Top 8  on the overall log.

So looking at the present situation - it is the NZ teams  - bar the Crusaders - who will struggle to reach the play-offs this year,    Up to now the situation was that NZ played the folloeing number of games against other teams outside of the NZ Conference and th situation is as follows:-

   Played    -    8

   Won       -    3

   Lost       -     5

Not a very impressive record at all.          

The Japs ruby teams are paid by big corporates. None of them want to join forces and compromise on producing a team for super rugby. Then again, the Sunwolves is just a bunch of retreaded journeyman from SA, NZ, Aus and the islands sprinkled with a few Japanese players. 

The initial inclusion of the Sunwolves was probably done on the insistence of  World Rugby to enhance expansion of the game in the rest of the world,   As indicated it backfired for the reasons mentioned by KC.    The  problem mentioned was clearly illustrated last year.   For instance Labuschagne was the Sunwolves captain for a few games last year and did remarkably well performance-wise.   He suddenly got called back by his club and I think Britz is in the same boat,  Both are I believed to be in the provisional Japanese WC squad,       

@Kingkorn

https://www.ruckersforum.com/forum/augen%C3%B6ffner/club-rugby-around-the-world/27540