Rivals merge to revive Super bid

MELBOURNE'S chances of landing the next Super Rugby franchise were boosted yesterday as peace broke out between the two factions bidding to be the competition's Victorian representative.

In front of the state's rugby faithful at a quarterly Edward ''Weary'' Dunlop lunch, the Melbourne Rebels and Vic Super15 consortiums announced they would merge into a single entity - to be known as the Rebels and led by advertising guru Harold Mitchell.

The deal was hammered out only in the past three days after the main players met in Mitchell's South Melbourne office. It leaves the unified Melbourne bid as a strong front-runner to win admission to the competition from 2011.

''It took some time but ultimately everybody realised it was better to all be in together,'' Mitchell said. ''There has been much comment and speculation about the competing forces in the effort to bring Super Rugby to Melbourne. Today that ends.''

The compromise has strong backing from the State Government, which is keen to see the Rebels ensconced at the new Swan Street rectangular stadium, and has also been accepted by the Australian Rugby Union.

Full article: http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...989912379.html

Hallalujah!