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Games hosted in Australia were actually up 9% to 71k last year. Going from the early ratings even with the expected fall away the early season ratings are way up on last year and look likely to help the competition end up higher again this season. I'm not saying this justifies culling the Force just that in the mind of those behind it, it certainly will.
Jeez . Sunwolves had the best fans and consistently large numbers ( since the Force Sea of Blue ) . Once again fans screwed over by a crowd that are chasing their own arses.
Welcome to GRR the Wolves and Fans . You’ll be looked after here .
Last edited by bootsetal06; 20-03-19 at 15:12.
No other team is required to pay a participation fee so ofcourse the JRU would be supportive to leave under that scenario. They are a developing nation, not a charity. It seems like an attempt by SANZAAR to blackmail money out of a union after they were left with their pants down after Twiggy made his $70 million offer which they originally turned down. Seems like SANZAAR are now in need of some cash to keep things alive.
As per the ratings I would like to see some facts around the increase because all other evidence points to a decrease. The last few rounds of super rugby were played when pretty much no other rival sports were on (not even cricket) so they have not had to compete for the viewers market yet, the next few rounds will be telling. Also crowds look pathetic this year. All signs point to a competition on its knees pleading for mercy, I just hope Twiggy cuts them off at the head next year by stealing all the good players for GRR. Interesting times. Also just a note that the Force average higher attendances than all the other franchises which makes me think had they been retained in SuperRugby then the superdooper comp would be doing even better than they supposedly are now.
Mate, there's a whole thread on G&GR dedicated to them and the numbers are very much up. A number of us have combed through last year and and this year so far and we're talking double digits. A good example of this is the Tahs/Reds game. Last year the second game between the two which rated the best managed 90k. The game a fortnight ago drew 128k. The Rebels have been drawing over 75k each game this season. Their previous highs have been in the mid 50k range. The ratings are up.
Perhaps you're thinking of the A-League which managed just 119k across its five games on the weekend.
And you believe those figures?
Nothing justifies culling the Force. The decision was corrupt, contemptuous, based on a complete and utter lie and was done solely to shore up the Rebels. It had nothing to do with rugby and everything to do with egos, power and mates doing deals for mates.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
I can. SANZAAR are deluded in thinking that the 6 Nations committee unions will bail out broke and corrupt unions south of the equator. The RA thought that a cut would strengthen Super Rugby but SARU sent their cut sides to Europe, reduced their player numbers professionally so sent some of them off to Malaysia and Rassie Erasmus comes out pushing regulation 9. Much easier to force when you are aligned in the same comps as you aren’t going to enforce that they way things are. Paid in Pounds and Euros rather than US Pesos.
I knew the Sunwolves in to Super Rugby wouldn’t work due to not being full partners (Italy had the same issues with Pro 12), travel arrangements and going against company owned clubs for player availability.
Last edited by Bakkies; 20-03-19 at 18:58.
SA never wanted to play a Japanese team in Super Rugby. Doesn’t work. Aus and NZ did want the Sunwolves for extra revenue in case SARU walked which they are now following through with actions. Aus and NZ didn’t come up with funds to help compensate the Sunwolves player release and travel arrangements. The RA spent all that money on the Rabble, lawyers, rebranding and reviews.
They have been angry and threatening to walk out since the ARU threatened to kick them out and then went on to use Super Rugby as a de facto domestic comp for marketing purposes which came at the detriment of the Currie Cup. The RA said that if the Kings got ahead of the Rebels bid they would put the Force in to the SA conference so the Rebels could be admitted to realise John O’Neills child hood dream of having a team based in Melbourne. To me that was an immediate red flag in regards to the future of the Force at the time.
SARU didn’t want an extended season and duplicated derbies to eat in to their domestic comp with over 100 years history and kept their Rugby going under isolation. Argentina under various identities provided SA’s top players with international opposition and it gave players like Hugo Porta exposure as not every match they played was classed as a test match. They aren’t going to throw the Jaguares under the bus. UAR are a full partner so it will require a 100% vote to kick them out. They won’t vote themselves out and neither will SA.
I am with SA 100% on this. The RA are enablers and fùckwits of the highest order.
You are starting to sound like Trainwreck talking up ratings. The teams are broke, no money for marketing, unions that made profits are budgeting for losses this year, putting out the begging bowl to the Six Nations for the next ten years and there are no potential bidders to oppose Foxsports to drive up their bid offer. SANZAAR has needed that the past two times that has gone up for tender. Only went up last time due to bids in England and France.
The RA are future forecasting and budgeting for the support of the game based upon revenue from tournaments and series that haven’t been signed off on. That is a dangerous threat to the game and of course not being called out in the press by their puppets.
Yeah RSA share alot of history with the South American Jaguars *cough* Argentinian rugby union side.. its a very rich one that is now getting the recognition it deserves. I doubt South Africa will ever want to see the end of the South Americans in super rugby, and rightly so.
SARU helped set up UAR professional development by allowing the Pampas to play in the Vodacom Cup.
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https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Apparently the Sunwolves will join division 2 of Super Rugby which is Global Rapid Rugby according to Georgina Robinson. I honestly think at this stage she should hang up the boots and retire from journalism. This game isnt for her. Feel free to read the below at your own risk...
Sunwolves, Fiji could join second tier Super Rugby competition
Georgina Robinson
07:24, Mar 21 2019
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Sunwolves players face an uncertain future with the Japanese team set to be axed after next season.
GETTY IMAGES
Sunwolves players face an uncertain future with the Japanese team set to be axed after next season.
The Sunwolves and a Fiji team would live on in an Asian Super Rugby competition under top secret plans being worked up by Sanzaar.
In a move unlikely to soften the blow to the Sunwolves, who were informed late on Wednesday they would be cut from Super Rugby from 2021, it appears there would still be a place for them in a division two-style tie-up with Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's Global Rapid Rugby.
The concept is understood to be the next cab off the rank for Sanzaar, who will announce their Super Rugby plans on Friday but cannot make any broader decisions on the Rugby Championship or other competitions until there is certainty about World Rugby's Nations Championship plan.
That should come by the end of the month, with the 12-team global competition to live or die by a March 29 deadline for the unions to enter an exclusive negotiation period.
READ MORE
* Sunwolves to be dropped from Super Rugby - reports
* Waratahs boss urges Sanzaar to save the Sunwolves
* Sanzaar mulling round robin return for Super Rugby
If it succeeds, Fiji is understood to be a certainty for an expanded six-team Rugby Championship, while Japan's inclusion still has a question mark hanging over it.
The Asian Super Rugby concept has formed part of Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle's roadshow briefings to the Australian Super bosses this week.
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The Sydney Morning Herald understands it would be a Sanzaar-endorsed competition part-owned by Forrest, Australia's mining billionaire, with a Japanese team to be added to the founding Rapid Rugby clubs, the Western Force, Fiji, Samoa, Hong Kong and Singapore.
A Malaysian team and potentially a second Australian team could be added. The Newcastle Hunter Rugby Union was reported to be in "high level" discussions with the Rapid Rugby team about basing a team out of there from next year.
GRR deflected the issue, keen to keep their focus on this weekend's opening showcase match between the Western Force and a Robbie Deans-coached World XV selection.
"The drive to provide an innovative and exciting brand of rugby throughout the Asia Pacific region in 2019 remains unchanged. Global Rapid Rugby is here for the long term," a spokesperson said.
"On the eve of the first game of the 2019 Showcase Series, we are excited about what the rugby world is about to see and enjoy."
The developments came to light as Sanzaar went into damage control on the Sunwolves news.
The team is in its fourth season of Super Rugby and has gone from being the joke of the competition to genuine competitors, securing their first away win – against the Chiefs in New Zealand – this season.
They also boast a loyal following, regularly attracting crowds of 15,000 or more to their home games at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo – a figure no Australian team would sneeze at.
The decision has been in the works for some time after considerable pressure from South Africa, who contribute the largest share of broadcast revenue and have long objected to the extra travel demands brought by a Japan-based team.
It has also been speculated that South African audiences have not warmed to games featuring the Sunwolves.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest is in discussions to partly fund an Asian Super Rugby with Sanzaar.
PAUL KANE/GETTY IMAGES
Billionaire Andrew Forrest is in discussions to partly fund an Asian Super Rugby with Sanzaar.
That alone would not have been enough to have the team axed. Weakening their position further, if not fatally, the Japan Rugby Football Union was not able to come up with the commercial contributions to match the other members of Sanzaar.
At crunch meetings in London last week, Argentina is also understood to have supported South Africa, leaving Australia and New Zealand as the lone voices in support of the Sunwolves' continued presence in the competition.
How staunch that support was cannot be known. The move will not be welcomed by Australian Super Rugby bosses, all of whom have worked hard to clinch commercial deals with Japanese companies.
But other Australian sources were keen to point out that Castle and chairman Cameron Clyne would not have signed up to a model that would be a net loss for Australian teams, even pointing out that they stood to benefit financially from the money saved by not having the Sunwolves in the competition.
The move will be criticised for its timing. This year Japan will host the Rugby World Cup, the first time the event will be held in Asia.
It will be an embarrassing look for World Rugby to have the host nation booted out of the premier provincial competition just six months out from the opening match of the World Cup
Yes, because I went back and checked them. The season average was 54k when accounting for the games played in SA and Arg but for games hosted in Australia the average was 71k. Again, I'm not actually suggesting that this is any kind of justification for culling the Force. I've said as much three times now including this post. But you cannot ignore realities and the realities are that the SR ratings are up this year. Comfortably so.