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How do you solve a problem like Super Rugby?

21st March, 2017
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The Rebels are a victim of the ARU's failings. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
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21st March, 2017
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SANZAAR are looking to revamp the Super Rugby competition, with an announcement due any day on a new format, and speculation is rife that current franchises will be culled.

The following is a solution that allows all current 18 franchises the opportunity to compete year by year in the Southern Hemisphere extravaganza.

A new competition would run for 20 weeks, hardly excessive when compared to NRL, AFL and the various football competitions around the world.

Firstly, the franchises would be divided into to pools of nine, with each playing each other on a home-and-away basis in the qualifying stages, for a total of 16 matches. The pools would be made up based upon the placings from the previous season.

At the end of qualifying, the top eight franchises from each pool would play quarter-finals, with one playing eight, two versus seven, three versus six, and four versus five. In conjunction with this round, the teams finishing from ninth to 16th would play a seeding game for their places next year. This means the bottom sides have 17 games in total.

The winners of the quarter-finals then play in the semi-finals, with home-ground based on round robin finishing positions or superior for and against points , while the losers play a qualifying game. At this point, 18 games have been played.

The semi-final winners naturally enough play the grand final, while a third and fourth play-off qualifying game would be required.

The final could be played at a predetermined venue, selected on a rotational venue, based upon the countries of the participating teams.

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The grand final could be 2018 South Africa, 2019 New Zealand, 2020 Argentina, 2021 Australia and 2022 Japan, then rotate again, with the third and fourth game as curtain raiser, creating a great festival of rugby. Supporters would know well in advance and these finals would grow into a spectacle only rivalled by the Rugby World Cup final.

That’s a total of 19 games, which means there is the opportunity for one bye for all teams throughout the season over 20 weeks.

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The pools could be seeded as follows:

Pool A: first, fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 13th, 15th and 17th
Pool B: second, third, sixth, seventh, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th

Using this format neither pool would be weaker or stronger, nor would the country of origin of each team be relevant.

Some tweaking may be required, but it seems more rational than the current set-up and some of the convoluted solutions I have heard bandied about.

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