The following from News24:-
"Japan's Sunwolves will be axed from Super Rugby from 2021, the governing body said on Friday, ditching Asia's first team in the competition just six months before Japan hosts the World Cup.
SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby) said it wasn't prepared to bankroll the perennial wooden-spooners after Japan's rugby board withdrew financial support.
The globe-trotting competition will return to 14 teams and its previous round-robin format from 2021, scrapping the unpopular and convoluted conference system.
SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos said the Sunwolves decision was "not taken lightly", and held open the possibility of a Super Rugby Asia-Pacific competition also involving Pacific nations, the Americas and Hong Kong.
"SANZAAR was advised by the Japan Rugby Football Union in early March that they would no longer be in a position to financially underwrite the Sunwolves' future participation post 2020," Marinos said in a statement.
Reports say much of the opposition to Asia's first Super Rugby team came from South Africa, whose teams were opposed to travelling to Tokyo and Singapore for the Sunwolves' home games.
Japan's Kyodo news agency said SANZAAR had told the Sunwolves to pay a "non-negotiable" participation fee of about 1 billion yen ($9 million) a year to stay in Super Rugby.
The Tokyo-based Sunwolves were introduced with great fanfare along with Argentina's Jaguares in 2016 as Super Rugby, seeking new markets, expanded to 18 teams.
Both teams survived a cull when the tournament shrank back to 15 sides in 2018, after the sprawling, globe-crossing new format proved unwieldy for teams and fans.
But results on the pitch were slow in coming for the Sunwolves, who were embarrassed 92-17 by the Cheetahs in their first season - before winning a breakthrough first victory, against the Jaguares, the following week.
Two more wins followed in 2017, improving to three in 2018, but with a litany of heavy defeats along the way, including a 94-7 hiding by the Lions in 2017.
Now in their fourth season, they won away for the first time earlier this month, beating the Chiefs 30-15 - only their seventh win in 51 games.
The Sunwolves have also faced criticism about the number of non-Japanese in their team, raising questions over their core mission of developing home-grown players."
The above contains some serious issues not previously mentioned or largely ignored in dealing with the issue:-
The removal o the Conference system
This is to be welcomed. The system protects teams not worth protecting and I means that the system is not a true reflection of the real strength of teams in the competition while at the same times increasing the series to a 16 game pattern. That reuires that =
* Each team must play home and away games to teams in the Conference itself - implying a total of 8 games;
* Each team must also play four of each of the other teams - meaning that in some years not all teams are really competitive. That implies a further 8 games to be played,
The new format would reduce the round robin component of the series to 13 games to be played - so alkl teams would emet all opponents in that phase of the game, which in the past did not happen.
The series remains long one and it would be possible not to have individual team byes - but rather a bye system which could easily be done on the following basis - with a break if a week after each phase:-
Phase 1 - Playing five games
Phase 2 - Playing four games
Phase 3 - playing four games
That would still mean that the series is a week shorter than the present one.
That would also mean that the 8 teams in the play-offs will essentially be the top 8 teams after playing each other,
Need for neutral referees
The fact is that Sanzaar has tried to establish a system of refereeing that did not work out, In 2018 the system was to send a referee from New Zealand to SA for example to referee local games, However, it could be used to ref games involving NZ teams. In 2018 the system failed and the NZ referee was sent back to NZ after clearly favouring NZ teams in two successive games.
How can one really get neutral refs? It should be done making sure that referees are really impartial and not favouring teams in one way or another, I am afraid what happened to the Rebels last week could also be detrimental to the image . of Super Rugby games - the Rebels were penalized 20 times - the Lions only once. How does that type of thing happen? Even though it was clear that most of the penalties in fact arose from -
* defective scrumming; and
* high tackles,
and would have been penalized by most referees - the question remains that a neutral referee may have been less controversial; if used.
The money issue
This is not an issue that was raised previously - fact is it was clear that if the Japan Rugby Board was not prepared to fund the Sunwolves - and they would have to be subsidized by the four components of Sanzaar complaints could be expected. SA is already - through the Supersport contract funding major component of Sanzaar costs on the series and the money would be better used to support other members of Sanzaar of which Japan was never a part.
Selection of the Sunwolves team
Initially the overwhelming number o team members came from Japan - but afterwards the Japan Clubs started to refuse to release contracted with them - both Japanese players and foreign contracted players, So the answer from te Sunwolves was to contract their own foreign players mostly coming from Sanzaar countries and the Pacific Islands. Th ideal initially was touse the Sunwolves to enhance rugby as a game in Japan. But did it have the desired effect - I think not .
