Super rugby faces big shake-up
Super rugby faces big shake-up
By JIM KAYES - The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Super rugby faces big shake-up - New Zealand's source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz
New Zealand's five Super rugby teams may change when a revamped competition is presented to broadcaster News Ltd as early as September.
An overhaul of the tired Tri Nations is also on the cards as Sanzar - the South Africa, Australia and New Zealand unions - looks to reverse the dive in interest in its two key competitions.
The New Zealand Rugby Union's general manager of professional rugby, Neil Sorensen, said yesterday the five New Zealand franchises could be redrawn in the revamp.
"We would be loathe to give up one of the franchises because it would be very hard to get one back, but that's not to say they will look the same as they do now.
"The New Zealand franchises could change."
It has happened before with North Harbour shifting from the Chiefs to the Blues while Thames Valley went the other way, but a more radical and wider revision of the boundaries was now possible.
It might mean the end of the Highlanders with another team produced in Auckland, as Sorensen admitted anything was possible.
"There are plenty of options and we are very open-minded on this," he said.
However, he says the NZRU has a participation agreement with its five franchises for the duration of the existing broadcasting deal, which ends after the 2010 Super 14.
Sanzar wants a new competition in place that year, and as the NZRU employs the players and coaches, it also calls the shots.
Sorensen said the Tri Nations was also likely to change, with more teams a possibility provided it could be worked into the IRB test schedule.
The extra round added to the competition in 2006 has failed to excite Kiwi fans, with the tests against South Africa not always selling out.
This year the Bledisloe Cup will also test appetites as it will be played over four tests with the final match in Hong Kong - four months after the first one.
Sorensen conceded the extra Tri Nations games had not won favour in New Zealand.
However, he said the competition provided nearly 60 per cent of the money from News Ltd. The Super 14 made up about 30 per cent of the deal, with the Air New Zealand Cup about 12 per cent.
"What the broadcasters pay for is the Tri Nations," Sorensen said.
"It's our most lucrative product. It's struggling a bit in New Zealand, but it's still a very valuable product for us.
"(However), people are looking for a change and we have the OK from the broadcasters to approach them with a different product."
That was not scheduled to happen until June next year, but Sorensen said Sanzar officials, who are meeting in Dublin this week while there for an IRB meeting, could have something decided by September.
The new competitions could be in place by 2010 - a year earlier than scheduled.
"If you had time and the buy-in by all three parties you would do it sooner but I don't think, logistically, it's do-able," Sorensen said.
"We certainly have the buy-in from the broadcasters, who are as keen as anyone to refresh the product (and) the general mood from all commentators on the game is that it needs to change.
"Contractually, we need to have something on the table for News Ltd by June of next year, but we would be looking to have something earlier than that.
We will have to have a pretty good feel by September of how Super rugby will look - and there are no real boundaries on how it might look."
