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Minnows' form fuels Super 14 expansion
Wayne Smith | September 11, 2007
THE head of the Australian Rugby Union, John O'Neill, and Wallabies coach John Connolly believe the time has come for SANZAR to boldly go global with its inter-provincial championship and turn the Super 14 into a Super 20.
Strong performances by the so-called minnows, many of them amateurs competing against professionals, over the first weekend of the World Cup have convinced them that the game is now so solidly based around the world it could support a radical expansion of the Super 14.
O'Neill and Connolly discussed what could be done to assist Japan's development after the Wallabies trounced the Cherry Blossoms 91-3 in Lyon on Saturday, but not before the Asian champions had mounted a gallant fight with what was essentially a second-string team.
Japan's performance, coming hard on the heels of Argentina's stunning upset of France, the US's exposure of England as paper lion world champions, Canada's early domination of Wales, Namibia's embarrassment of Ireland and Samoa's aggressive display against the Springboks support the two Australians' belief that bringing those countries into a formal competition quickly would turn them into serious rugby contenders.
"About seven years ago, SANZAR had a consultancy firm, Accenture, look at options for the future and one of its proposals was that the competition could go to a Super 20, involving teams from Argentina, the US, Canada, Japan and the Pacific Islands," O'Neill said. "Maybe it's time we dust off those proposals and revisit them."
O'Neill said it was unlikely any expansion of the existing Super 14 could be put in place before the next broadcast deal is renegotiated in 2010.