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UPDATE: Western Force respond to reports Super Rugby franchise will be cut

27th March, 2017
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The Western Force have had their Super Rugby license discontinued. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
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27th March, 2017
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Reports are flying that the Western Force are set to be the unlucky Australian Super Rugby side cut in a revamped 15-team competition, however the franchise has denied they will be making way at the end of the season.

While the move is yet to be confirmed, the Daily Telegraph’s Jamie Pandaram is reporting the Perth-based franchise will no longer be a part of Super Rugby from 2018.

While the Force’s future is now murky, the Australian’s Wayne Smith has said the Perth-based side are simply the “most likely” of the five Australian franchises to be scrapped, and that they have been “earmarked” to make way in a 15-team competition.

Scrapping the Force hinges on Super Rugby reverting to a 15-side competition, a move that would require two South African teams to be consigned to the scrapheap in addition to the Perth-based club.

The Telegraph is reporting all of SANZAAR’s partners have agreed, in principal, to the restructure, however that agreement is yet to become official. The decision is expected to be made on April 6.

While the move to 15 teams is not yet set in stone, the ARU is reportedly planning to distribute the Force’s players among the remaining four Australian franchises – the Brumbies, Rebels, Reds and Waratahs – in a move that would see any existing contracts fulfilled even with the demise of the team.

Dane Haylett-Petty of the Force

Since the side’s first season in 2006, the Force have endured a miserable run of form in Super Rugby. They have not made the finals of the competition once – and have often been in the running for the wooden spoon – however, they have played a significant role in the development of Wallabies like David Pocock, Dane Haylett-Petty and Adam Coleman.

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The news will come as a major relief for Brumbies and Rebels fans, with the ACT and Melbourne-based sides the other two Australian franchises rumoured to be in danger of getting the chop.

It seems the Brumbies’ on-field success – something they have more of than any other Australian club – was enough to spare the long-standing franchise, while the potential legal minefield that could have accompanied any decision to remove the privately-owned Rebels would have surely played a part in saving the Melbourne side.

The ARU is yet to comment on the matter.

UPDATE: The Force have responded to the reports they will be cut, labelling them as “speculation”.

Full statement from the Western Force
RugbyWA and the Road Safety Western Force would like to issue the following statement;

Under no circumstances do we believe today’s speculation around the future of the Road Safety Western Force to be true. Two and half weeks ago, through a national phone link-up all clubs were told that the ARU through the governing body, SANZAAR was investigating a number of issues and those issues had to be resolved prior to a decision being made to reduce any of the Australian franchises.

There has been no further contact from the Australian Rugby Union to any of the Western Force players or staff, so at this time there is no further comment on the matter until substantiated facts are put forward.

Until then the organisation will be business as per usual, with the team taking on the Blues in Auckland this Saturday and the launch of the Own the Force share applications this Thursday.

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