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Trans-Tasman Heineken Cup?

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candybum

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If theres a topic about this then i apologise and please delete...

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1320238/1980628
Radical rugby overhaul planned

The Super 14 rugby franchise could be heading for the scrap heap according to reports.

The Wellington based Dominion Post reported on Tuesday that nine powerful provincial rugby unions have been discussing a concept that would see the Super 14 and Air New Zealand Cup scrapped in favour of a 14 team trans-Tasman trophy and international Heineken Cup-style competition.

The unions, including; North Harbour, Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Southland have been discussing the radical new format behind closed doors for the past six-to-eight weeks - according to the Post.

End of S14

An unnamed source told the newspaper that the unions have been working on a professional template that would see the Air NZ Cup replaced by a European- style competition running from March to October, adding that the unions are "unanimous that Super rugby has reached the end of its life"

The "Heineken Cup" tournament would run along side the trans-Tasman competition, with 24 teams in four pools of six playing matches every four weeks and would include the top sides ranked on the preceding season's results with teams from New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, the USA, Pacific Islands and possibly Hong Kong.

Kirwan consulted

The source also told the newspaper that former All Black and current Japan national coach John Kirwan had played a part in the discussions and that New Zealand's players had been consulted and were also behind the concept.

If given the go-ahead, the trans-Tasman trophy would include nine New Zealand provinces with five teams from Australia, and would be played on a home and away basis.

It is unclear whether the NZRU have been made aware of the issue, but the report said Australian Rugby Union CEO John O'Neill had been briefed about the plans over the weekend with the unions scheduled to meet again in the coming week to "finalise their thoughts."[/b]

Its sad and disappointing if they are copying the NH.

I dont want to see the end of super rugby and the ANZCup.
 
Sounds awesome, hopefully they add relegation as well to add a bit of spice to it.
 
Sounds good to me. SA already have a promotion/relegation format with the Currie Cup which will keep the comp strong and competitive, and with more Springboks playing in our domestic comp it will be the Currie Cup of the old days. Just stronger. Rugby is growing faster than ever here so we AIGHT.
Adding a H-Cup setup would really be the cherry on the top. The SANZAR nations have alot of history together so that comp would definitely interest the viewing public. Exciting idea, I'm for it.
 
That clears up the NZ position, but what does that say about SA breaking away from Sanzar though?
 
SARU are committed to Super Rugby until 2011, what's planned after that has not been discussed or has not been released to the public.
 
What are SARU going to do though? They can't come up here, the "Rainbow Cup" idea between South Africa and the Celtic League was scrapped ages ago.

EDIT: Also, what is with the throwing in of teams from random countries. Wait, Hong Kong now has to produce a team for the competition thats going to replace the Super 14?! I don't think there are enough Australian, New Zealand and PI players to cover teams for Hong Kong, Japan and America!!

Anyone get the feeling O'Neill just has a huge map of the world in his office which he throws darts at?
 
I imagine there's a few people around the world who'd want a John O'Neill in their office to throw darts at.
 
What are SARU going to do though? They can't come up here, the "Rainbow Cup" idea between South Africa and the Celtic League was scrapped ages ago.

EDIT: Also, what is with the throwing in of teams from random countries. Wait, Hong Kong now has to produce a team for the competition thats going to replace the Super 14?! I don't think there are enough Australian, New Zealand and PI players to cover teams for Hong Kong, Japan and America!!

Anyone get the feeling O'Neill just has a huge map of the world in his office which he throws darts at?
[/b]
http://www.super14.com/news/viewarticle.asp?id=14802
John O'Niell, for once, wasn't involved.

SARU is very strong at the moment, as you can see NZ and OZ (unfortunately for their independence) depend on SARU alot. 2/3 to 3/4 of all SANZAR's revenue is generated by SARU. SA rugby is a cash cow, we won't have to fall into some comp. Adding that to our favourable geographical position, we'll have bidders lining up around the block.
I'm confident that whatever happens, we'll have a few attractive options.
 
I quite like the idea of a new competition especially with some form of relegation and extended ways of franchising. The current teams are so...uhm static.

Perhaps I feel like that because I'm used to the European soccer leagues but it would make the whole thing more interesting to follow.
 

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