Sanzaar has confirmed that Super Rugby will be reduced to 15 teams in 2018, with South Africa losing two franchises and Australia one.
SA Rugby hopes to confirm its four teams by the end of June, with the Cheetahs and Kings reportedly in the firing line, while the Australian Rugby Union will decide which Australian franchise to drop, with only the Reds and Waratahs assured of their place in the competition.
The 15 teams will be in three conferences, with Argentina’s Jaguares in the SA conference and Japan’s Sunwolves in the Australian conference.
Conferences:
New Zealand: Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes
Australia: Four Australian teams (TBC), Sunwolves
South Africa: Four South Africa teams (TBC), Jaguares
Tournament details:
– 120 match regular season plus seven-match playoffs
– 15 teams
– Three conferences (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa)
– 18 rounds (16 matches per team, two bye weeks)
– Each team will play eight matches within its conference (four home and four away)
– Each team will play eight cross-conference matches, against four of the five teams from each of the other two conferences (four at home and four away)
– Each team will play 12 of the other teams within the season (85% of opposition teams which is up from 70% in 2016).
– Eight team playoffs: Three conference winners and five wild card places – the next best performing teams based on competition points after the conference winners regardless of conference.
– Conference winners and fourth-placed team on competition points will host quarter-finals.
‘Fans, media and broadcasters have spoken and we have listened to them,’ said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, in a press release. ‘The 18-team Super Rugby competition has not worked, and we had to face up to that hard fact. The integrity of the format and the lack of competitiveness in too many matches were major issues that needed addressing.
‘From a South African rugby high-performance perspective we’ve had to acknowledge that the dilution of talent and resources across six franchises – at a time when rand weakness has led to more departures to Europe and Japan – has seriously affected our ability to compete across the board.
‘As a rugby nation we need several strong franchises, all of whom are in with a serious chance of challenging for the title and we could no longer say that. A reduction in the number of South African franchises was the unavoidable conclusion, especially when put in the context of Sanzaar’s long-term strategy of adding to our tournaments’ appeal and commercial success which, in time, will mean greater returns for SA Rugby.’
SA Rugby will now begin internal consultations to identify its four entrants to the 2018 competition.
The newly-established Franchise Rugby Committee (made up of representatives of all six teams) will meet on Tuesday to finalise the criteria for selection. Their recommendation will go to the Executive Council. Once that recommendation is agreed it will need to be approved by the General Council of SA Rugby.
