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2014 SANZAR Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship


VictoriaGooner

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So there isn't a thread on here about Super Rugby, the premier rugby union club competition in the southern hemisphere. The best rugby players in the world play in this league, with clubs based in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It was announced prior to the start of this Super Rugby season that in 2016 there will be an additional South African club and the inaugural Argentinian club in the competition.

So this the thread for discussion of this amazing league... Any thoughts on how the first rounds have been played out? Any predictions on who will be crowned at in August? Will the Chiefs repeat?

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  • 3 weeks later...

What a fight back by the Chiefs against the Cheetahs today. Down 20 pts in the second half and slowly plugged away at the lead in a high scoring draw 43-43. Crudden did miss some big kicks...and it cost the Chiefs in the end. The Highlanders barely held on to the win with a three point win. The Sharks still lead the way on top of the ladder

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This weekend's Super Rugby fixtures have some good matchup with top of the ladder Sharks and Lions, the Reds taking on the Brumbies, and the current league holders Chiefs playing at home v Rebels in Hamilton. Anyone see any upsets this week? Or will it be status quo in Super XV?

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  • 3 weeks later...

So in othe news the Super Rugby will expand to 18 teams by 2016. There will be a 6th team added in South Africa in Port Elizabeth and will be the Southern Spears. South Africa will then be split into two conferences with Australia and New Zealand staying in their own conferences. The 17th is rumored to be going to Japan as their rugby competition is picking up in popularity locally and they have a nice coporate market there as well. The 18th team could be a team from either Australia or New Zealand but will most likely be based out of Buenos Aries, Argentina because of their inclusion into SANZAR's old Tri Nations series.

http://www.sanzarrugby.com/superrugby/news/search-begins-for-18th-super-rugby-team/

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So in othe news the Super Rugby will expand to 18 teams by 2016. There will be a 6th team added in South Africa in Port Elizabeth and will be the Southern Spears. South Africa will then be split into two conferences with Australia and New Zealand staying in their own conferences. The 17th is rumored to be going to Japan as their rugby competition is picking up in popularity locally and they have a nice coporate market there as well. The 18th team could be a team from either Australia or New Zealand but will most likely be based out of Buenos Aries, Argentina because of their inclusion into SANZAR's old Tri Nations series.

http://www.sanzarrugby.com/superrugby/news/search-begins-for-18th-super-rugby-team/

That's great news on the expansion of Super Rugby. It was coming sooner rather than later. But both Australian and New Zealand rugby federations are up in arms with SA getting another club. But I'm happy to see Argentina getting a team. They definitely are those up and coming rugby nations. I still don't understand why Japan is on the short list to get a club. They aren't even in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes it is getting popular in Japan with a growing market but I thought for sure Fiji would get a club first. But I guess we will wait and see. No matter how you see it, it'll be good for the competition.

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Well I can understand Japan with the money thing but also a lot of players when they get past their prime tend to head there (mostly for money). Argentina makes sense with their inclusion into the Southern Hemisphere series and I'd like to see how they get on in that. I can understand why NZ and AUS would be angry at South Africa getting another team but in all honesty where could those other two countries support a team? Australia could maybe get one more up north or another area of Sydney. New Zealand couldn't do it. All of their major cities have the teams already and none of the smaller ones have a stadium to support them. You could MAYBE put another team in Auckland and play out of North Harbor Stadium but I think the Blues may have issues with that. Maybe in Nelson but that draws from the Crusaders territory... Same story with Invercagill or Queenstown, they'd be pulling away from the Highlanders territory. For me personally the only area I could maybe see one more team would perhaps be Northland in Whangarei.

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I could see Northland getting a club, with them being the only city that could support a Super Ruby club and not interfering with the other NZ clubs. As for Australia, I could see Cairns getting a club if they decided to expand there. When I was there in 2003,it was a fair size city with ideas of growth back then. As for Japan, yes it's a good market but I dont know if they could really support a Super Rugby club. I guess time will tell. I still would like to see a Fijian club before s Japanese club.

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I dunno. I feel Fiji is too unstable right now with government. They had some IRB coaching funding pulled recently and were suspended for something as well. Samoa maybe but I think too small and not a good enough stadium. Same can be said for Tonga. TIme will tell... Personally I'd love to see a team in North America BUT that won't happen any time soon. North America would have the financial and stadium stability, the question would be can they put butts in seats... The question would be where could a team be placed that rugby would be popular. Maybe the Bay Area in California of perhaps Vancouver as it's a very popular sport on the west coast of Canada.

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Rugby is huge here on the west coast, especially in Victoria and Vancouver. It's popularity to particpants is behind soccer and way ahead of hockey. The last two years Langford host the IRB America's Rugby Championship with huge numbers of spectators at Bear Mountain Stadium (avg 2600 over 6 matches). The Canadian Rugby Championship is a big pull here in BC too.

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  • 3 months later...

Today was the opening games for The Rugby Championship. Australia v New Zealand (in Sydney) and South Africa v Argentina (in Pretoria). With the results from both games, it's looking like it might be a close test series throughout. The Wallabies-All Blacks game was quite entertaining, with the All Blacks giving up some needless penalties throughout and the Wallabies not capitalizing on two sin bin opportunities.

Anyone else watched either or both games? They are being played live and replayed on Sportsnet World here in Canada.

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