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Nick Taylor
Sunday, 9 July 2017 12:33PM
Australian players have been let down by the ARU's bungled attempt to downsize Super Rugby, their union says.
And with South Africa having chopped two clubs, the Rugby Union Players' Association insists five Australian franchises must be maintained in a 16-team competition until the current broadcast deal ends in three years.
RUPA chief executive Ross Xenos, who was at Friday night's Western Force bittersweet 31-22 win over Melbourne Rebels, said the ARU had abandoned its national footprint by trying to axe one of the clubs.
The pressure has moved off the Force, who have started legal action against the ARU, and onto the privately owned Rebels who are in talks with the governing body about the sale of their licence.
Hopefully there's a bit of inside info attached to this
More here
https://thewest.com.au/sport/super-r...-ng-b88531487z
The South Africans are not actually cutting 2 teams from what I can see, they are just saying the Cheetahs and Kings have to play somewhere else The ARU are the only body looking to downsize
Super Rugby: Australian freefall mirrored at the gate - Wayne Smith, The Australian. (Available via Google News.)
Crowd and television viewing figures for Australian Super Rugby have plummeted over the past two years though, ironically, the Western Force’s gate attendances have risen since the club was targeted for culling by the ARU.
According to statistics provided to The Australian by Fox Sports, the number of people attending a Super Rugby match has fallen from 643,790 in 2015 (average crowd 15,702), to 536,807 in 2016 (average 13,764), to the current low of 399,066 for 2017 (average 11,402).
Admittedly, the current season still has one round of fixtures to go next weekend, with the Force hosting the Waratahs and the Melbourne Rebels taking on the Jaguares of Argentina, both on Saturday night. The Brumbies’ quarter-final on July 21 in Canberra still is to be factored in as well.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...909755a7d08a02
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
And they think culling a team thousands of kilometres away from their precious Sydney home ground will increase the crowd numbers?
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
Jarrad Butler off to Connaught, another decent player lost to Australian rugby.
We would have been better off as #strongerasfive
With some of the names moving overseas due to the current situation we may land up as #weakerasfour
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
The ARU doesn't care. They want to be #StrongerAsOne #InSydney
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
Aidan Toua from the Brumbies possibly off to Japan
We would have been #Strongerasfive
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
This all reminds me of the Joan Baez song "Where have all the flowers gone".
I can just picture the ARU board sitting in an empty stand in a few years time, watching a couple of old men run around the field playing what they call rugby singing the following chorus from the song:
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
They are all in uniform
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Simon Cron: “People talk about winning and losing all the time and they are critical, but there’s a process to get into and it’s the ability to stay present, do your job and execute skills under pressure.”
How young is young? Asking for a friend...
Chachi?
"12 Years aSupporter" starring the #SeaOfBlue