Rugby encouraged to expand in Asia

How about this then SUPER RUGBY NZ Conference Aust Conference Asia Conference Africa Conference Americas Conference Crusaders Brumbies Japan 1 Bulls Argentina 1 Blues Warratahs Japan 2 Stormers Argentina 2 Hurricanes Force Japan 3 Sharks Argentina 3 Chiefs Reds Japan 4 Lions Canada XV Highlanders Rebels Japan 5 Cheetahs USA XV Samoa XV Fiji XV Korean XV Kings Uruagauy XV NZ 6 Tonga XV Hong Kong Nambian XV Chile XV You could change around my teams abit, but you get the idea.For me the more the better, its the best way to develop rugby. Teams would be multi national though with restricted numbers and all foreign players should be allow to play for ex. All blacks. Could be hard to work out how the tournement would work but something is sure to work. In the end the best teams would be in the finals and thats the main thing. I think other countries should never be shut out also and maybe make way for the likes of Kenya, China, Zimbabwe in the future. On top of this.... NZ, Aust, SA, Arg, Fiji, Samoa, Japan Tonga, Usa, Canada, Uragauy, Chile, Korea, Hong Kong, Nambia All Super Nations can play in the new Super Test Match Tournment. 2 Divisions with direct Promotion and relegation plus playoff for the sixth team in divison 1 and 2nd team in divsion 2. Anybody like the idea or is it crazy. I love rugby development and expansions but dont get me wrong it would take time to get teams up to speed. Im not from a developing rugby nation, im a kiwi and never want to see us lose to the likes of japan or fiji or good god KOREA but hey LET THEM IN.. What do you think.... DESvarta.....

The answer is no.

There are women who follow rugby. Not a lot perhaps, but then there aren't a lot of fans in general. I don't think people realise how limited professional sport is in Japan. There's really only baseball and soccer (and sumo, I suppose, but that's fading fast.) The rest operate at either a semi-pro or amateur level. In that sense, rugby is no different from the rest of the sports in Japan.

probably. Rugby was once upon a time a top tier sport in Japan but the intro of J-League soccer followed by entry to the world cup practically killed the game. No women follow rugby in japan and until that changes, boys will likely play sports that the girls watch. Rugby in Japan needs a pin up boy and to be fem-friendly IMHO. If not, it continues in it's downward spiral and Kirwan is dreaming. Rugby in Japan is mostly run by dour old men who have no understanding of sports marketing or international sport.

Is 4.62% an increase in crowds or Not OJ when compared to last seasons top league? Yes or No? Stop deflecting Kiwias. They get bigger crowds then the NPC of NZ.

"It doesn’t add value to the broadcast deal and it costs money" obviously ... 30 to 40% of the SANZAR deal isnt anything ... I dont think Aus, NZ or NZ would even be concerned about $130 to $170 million. And once you have your low value, low wage, low broadcast appeal, and no international appeal domestic competition, watch all your players flock to Europe. Aint gonna happen bro ...

Yep .. the oil crisis is going to result in less international rugby games ... hahaha You are stuck in the past ... the 1970´s to be precise .... Oil crisis, back to the hey deys of club and provincial rugby ... For a start the new super deal lasts until 2015 .. so if it ever happened, it wouldnt happen until then. But if it ever did happen all the All Blacks would be playing in Europe. They are not going to stay in NZ, playing for peanuts in a provincial competition.

It's my shorthand for 'Japanese Top League' IMO the main benefit is increasing the level of international rivalry. Currently Japan dominates the 5 Nations with Korea one of the top teams the next tier down. If you can generate a rivalry between the two countries with close games you may see an increase in rugby interest from the japanese population.

I think the main 'problem' if you'd call it that is the clearly different opinions by country: - South Africa DO value playing the likes of the Crusaders and Brumbies in the S15. They also get to watch watch overseas games over a weekend breakfast fry up because the NZ/Aus games are played in the evening. - Australia keeps their traditional state-based teams, now in a home and away series, plus enjoy the international exposure particularly with large expat populations. So overall the S15 suits them perfectly. - New Zealand has a horrible time zone for Sth Africa games, which not only hurts audiences but also the whole 'feeling' of not being involved in the sth african games for nz supporters. The regional format lso hurts some more than others. The NZRU may not go back to fully professional provincial teams, but it is SHOCKING that they continue to allow major provinces to dominate franchises. The 'Canes are based in wellington, play in wellington colours and very seldom play outside wellington even though they'd get some bigger crowds elsewhere. So if I was one of the other EIGHT provinces that make up the hurricanes, such as hawkes bay which provides plenty of Super players and All Blacks, of course I would struggle to support the Canes as much as HB in the NPC. I could go on.... but NZ has the most to lose from the new format, though they should continue to do well regardless. There was a large survey done when the s15 was announced that generally backed up these opinions.

Oil Crisis zhenry?

Your wrong Sharminator, NZs NPC would pull in the crowds. What kills the NPC crowds is Super - starting in Feb right through to July. Get Super off and we get crowds. To give it real impetus, not trust a bunch of one eyed Wallaby CBDers to present 'how it is' to NZers. SANZA have been brainwashed into accommodating a 4th rated AU sport as the blue print for their regional competition. Super as is, does not suit NZ, but the AU owned media present it to us as 'the competition'. Actually the crowds for last years NPC were often very good, but not in the main cities. Playing repeated internal Super games is a yawn in NZ; we are better off going with our grass roots and using that time for NPC. For broadcasting rights NZ and SA should present their internal comps as the blue print and AU would have the option of joining. Instead of Super we include certain play offs between each countries Province or State. Because of the Oil Crisis those international games will become, (during the next 2 years), seriously truncated. It would of course require the NZ and SA counterparts to set up what suits them and hard-line that blueprint to AU. With unanimity of purpose (from SANZ) that could be done. However on the NZ side that would require inspirational leaders and an inspirational NZRU who seeks what is good for NZ. Its quite simple really, but there lies the rub; if its out there, its achievable.

You can go around trawling the web for crowd attendance for the next time you have an argument with a rugby league fan but it won't change the fact that you're wrong. There has been no significant increase in crowd numbers this year.

Well, in 1996 everyone thought super rugby being international would create more interest but time proved otherwise. Even News Ltd say they see no value in games played in South Africa against Aussie and kiwi teams broadcast at 3am (eg Highlander's v Lions). No one turns up. No one watches. No one cares. It doesn't add value to the broadcast deal and it costs money. That's why sanzar added more local matches to S15 because that's what fans care about. These international matches should only happen if it's final and not round robin. Yet sanzar still dish it up. And when we say Heinekin Cup format we mean the real historical clubs provinces or state teams from NPC, Currie Cup and ARC against the top teams from Argentina, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Japanese national tournaments. I suspect that's what Kirwan wants too. No super franchises involved. Let's just agree to disagree on this one. We are off topic anyway unless you consider Australia part of Asia?

Don´t the J-League play soccer? I´m not sure how a Korean firm enterning a team in the J-League is relevant to Rugby in Japan.

I am not sure where you are from, but you mention AFL and NRL so you may be Australian. AFL is the most popular sport in Australia. Rugby League number 2, that´s why they can pull so much money on their own. People are talking about 1 billion and 850 milllion for their next tv deals. I love rugby, but union is still a long way behind other codes in Australia in popularity and broadcast stakes. In contrast the Super 15 and Tri-Nations deal is only worth 437 million, spread across 3 countries, which translates to around 130 million for the ARU (NZ and SARU get a little extra for the Currie Cup and NPC) Being an international competition creates more interest, and allows NZ, Sa and Aus to ask for much more than they could ask for than for only the Currie Cup, NPC .. or a the non-existant ARC. In fact without Super Rugby Australia would get little apart from a % of Tri-Nationas money as we have no established national domestic competition. We could have the ex-Super XV franchises play each other ... but they are going to play each other home and away now in the Super XV so what is the point? In terms of clubs ... they were and are still where players develop, but in Australia´s case a devolution from State based franchises, to some type of interstate club comp would be a very backward step. The standard would also be a lot lower as there are 12 1st Grade clubs in Sydney and 10 in Brisbane, and WA and Victoria would fall of the rugby map again, while Canberra could again try and attach itself to Brisbane or Sydney Club comps. The only way to increase the standard would be to decide some clubs will be part of the elite, other wont be, and force players from one club to another, deleting any notion of history and tradition. I prefer the Sydney and Qld 1st grade comps as the place where Super 15 players come from or get noticed, with 10 or 12 clus, and amateur players at times being able to play alongside or against Waratahs or Wallabies. In Australia there simply isnt the interest or player depth in rugby union for a sucessful sub national comp with more than the current number of super clubs, the ARC showed this. New Zealand´s problems are economic and population based. They simply dont have the internal market to support a high level rugby, high wage competition. Yeah, people love watching the all blacks, but outside of NZ there isnt much of a market for anyone to watch Tasman against North Harbour. The money from Super XV and Tri-Nations subsidises the NPC. The new format of the Super 15 actually involves more local clashes, within country pools, and the top team in each of the SA, NZ and Aus groupings goes to the finals, plus the 3 next best teams, guaranteeing 1 home final in each country, so home clash interest will increase. People keep going on about a Heineken Cup format .. but there are no other teams to play against. The Super XV clubs and who ..... the teams from the Top League ... that are company based anyway and probably are not interested in investing miilions to buy non japanese players to become competative with teams from Aus, NZ and SA, against teams that only get a few thousand spectators .. your havin a laugh ...

'Just a question OJ.. Has this years Top League crowds Grown in comparison to last seasons? A simple Yes or No will suffice.' Is it tiring moving those goal posts Kovana?

Doesn't change the fact that's an accurate reflection of their international status as most rugby followers would understand Kovana.

I got the news about the new PRC comp from a rugby player in Samoa.... Its starting Next year. Oz teams('A' teams) - ACT, NSW, Queensland NZ NPC teams - Cantabs, Otago, Auckland. Pacific Islands - Samoa A, Fiji A, Tonga A (All the best local Players... A So called Barbarians team)

@ OJ. The IRB has not being using the 'Tier' system since 2008.

Just a question OJ.. Has this years Top League crowds Grown in comparison to last seasons? A simple Yes or No will suffice. You remind me of a very negative kiwi in Japan on Planet Rugby did you know that.