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If it's because Super Rugby blows up on its own, then maybe not (and there'd be nothing they can do about it). But it's also possible that we go full domestic with some pretty significant money behind it (some combination of private equity and RA investing a chunk of the money gained from the...

If we ever leave Super Rugby I think you can be pretty confident that our Super Rugby teams would form the basis of whatever comes next.

Probably not immediately but it takes time to build rivalries. At least Japan and Fiji are good to watch, and the Wallabies would win more than they lose. And with Eddie coaching Japan it does help build the interest in those games if we do begin to play them more regularly. Maybe state of...

Seems pretty much impossible to enforce, and could be volunteered into by players and their agents anyway during negotiations as they know it'll mean a better deal.

I'd guess the French clubs offer players smaller deals if they make themselves fully available for test rugby. Given the length of their season they don't want their star international players having the added work load and injury risk.

Tokyo definitely and probably before Singapore or HK, especially given Japan will themselves be involved, and it's a great tourist destination. Maybe it could be played in Australia and NZ at some point, but they'd have to flip where the July and November windows are played so probably wouldn't...

Good and brave decision. If this is to be a success long term you need the first few events to have full stadiums and good atmospheres, and ideally plenty of supporters willing to travel to it. Even without considering other factors, Qatar would have been a flop.

Another couple of seasons like he's just had and I think it'd be a very strong claim. It'd be great for rugby globally if he does, rugby hasn't had that many megastars, especially in the lets say 'magician' category. Like a Federer/Messi/Senna type.

I was surprised the first round of the tournament had no large blow outs. Zimbabwe were very close to losing to Uganda, while Senegal, Ivory Coast and even Burkina Faso were reasonably competitive. These teams are clearly a step or 2 below the tier 2 European and South American nations, but...

Zimbabwe had a big 32-10 win over Namibia in the semi-finals. Namibia missing some of their professional players, but still a great sign for Zimbabwe heading into next year's World Cup qualifiers. They'll play Algeria in the final after the Algerians upset Kenya 20-12. There are a few...

Great win for them. Hopefully they're also making progress in their ability to verify the eligibility of their players!!

I think some of the results in this year's Trophy really highlight the advantage a qualification process would have over promotion/relegation. Last year Uruguay beat Scotland in the Trophy (before losing 39-32 to Spain in the final), but this year's team just got destroyed by Japan 73-22 in the...

The teams that are competing in the Trophy (other than Scotland as host and Japan as the relegated team) all had to qualify for it. I think you could have regional qualifiers that feed into both the Championship and the Trophy. But even if they stuck with automatic promotion and relegation...

The next best European teams (Netherlands/Portugal) aren't so far behind for it to be too much of an issue IMO. But an alternative could just be to have a qualification process each year for the tournament (above and beyond a one off promotion/relegation match).

Sure. What a challenge it would be to claw some of those lost/absent fans back to rugby. I'm sure the opportunity to own and build up a new professional rugby club in Sydney would provide a great sense of purpose for 1 or more wealthy rugby lovers.

Incomes are less relevant than wealth. There's ~4000 individuals in Australia with a net wealth of over $100 million. How many more are between 50-100? And I think we all know rugby union would be more popular among this cohort than it is in the general population, at least those in Sydney and...

I think the more likely owners/investors would be a little older (semi-retired or recently retired) and motivated more by factors like ego, the desire to leave a legacy, boredom/search for novelty, and existential angst. Basically owning a pro sports team in your preferred sport would be cool...

Not sure how many actual billionaires but rugby certainly has more than its fair share of very high net worth supporters in Australia. Imagine RA announced tomorrow that it was leaving Super Rugby, intended to start a new pro domestic competition, and asked for expressions of interest for...

Why not look at France as the benchmark? They have an NRL/AFL type of competition in addition to the national team. It's the economic powerhouse of the sport where rugby is in the rudest health, and there's a lot of competition there too. The fact that the international game is a huge driver of...

How do you know that equalising Super Rugby wouldn't also prioritise international success? I don't think it's super obvious what prioritises international success. For example we could go 100% down the cohesion route and have a single Australian squad that plays together all season (a bit like...