Super 14 revamp begins
July 18 2008
Next year's Super 14 semi-finals may be expanded to six teams - presumably three in each pool playing on a round-robin basis - according to a brief SANZAR statement released on Friday.
The recommendation is said to be 'stage one in an overall plan to increase Super Rugby's footprint' according to the statement, which comes as a result of a three-day SANZAR meeting to discuss the future of the southern competition.
The proposal will now be submitted to the individual unions and stakeholders for consideration.
Stage two - and probably other stages - of the development were set for 2010, including alternative competition structures and the likely inclusion of further teams, possibly even from countries outside the established three.
"We have had consistent feedback that if you have a 14-team round-robin, you get the top four, and some very good sides miss out at the crunch time of the season," said NZ CEO Steve Tew.
"So if we can fit a six-team play-off final in next year, we think it's worth doing. It's a good signal to send and change is under way.
"Super rugby is taking a step forward. It's got to remain a pre-eminent competition in the world, a cross-border, inter-provincial competition. And to do that, expansion and development is an essential part of it. So 2010 and beyond is a very exciting time."
All very laudable. But there is likely to be a significant obstacle to any major tournament expansion in the form of the June Tests and the Tri-Nations schedule, and SANZAR said that alterations and negotiations to change those remained 'a work in progress'.
Amidst ongoing frustration over Northern Hemisphere teams sending weakened squads South, SANZAR have hinted that the Northern Hemisphere teams are walking on thin ice with regards to the June Tests.
France's recent tour to Australia, for example, was an absolute farce and SANAZAR chief executive Jonathan Stones has issued the warning saying it was a situation the body was finding increasingly untenable.
"I don't want to say categorically that there is where we are right now," said Stones.
"But certainly that is an area that we would be looked at and lets leave it at that at this point of time. But yes, it is something that we have to take cognisance of.
"There have been efforts made post-Woking to ensure that the sides that come south in the June window are the best sides available. We haven't seen manifestation of that yet."
"At some stage [SANZAR's] patience has to [run out].
"It is important for us. One of the things that we have had really good feedback from the players' associations as to what the players want, what is important to them, playing against the best in the best competitions stands right out.
"That is what the players are looking for, that the best do play the best. So certainly it is something we have taken cognisance of as we have had discussions over the last couple of months and in particularly in the last couple of days."
The expansion of Super Rugby through the June Test window is something NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said could be attained.
"It is not new," Tew said.
"The Europeans run club rugby through both the Six Nations and the November internationals. So if we can't sort June out then there is something wrong with us."