JRFU to bid for Super Rugby

[WorkingClassRugger]

After a general meeting they have decided to initiate the bidding process. Will start investigating the financial requirements ahead of the August deafline

 

[Blue]

Considering they will play in an SA comp they may as well budget to buy an airplane.

 

[BDA]

Postive news for the ARU. From an Aussie perspective I'd like to see a team from Japan. Surely the ultimate goal (for perhaps 2018 and beyond) would be to re-arrange the conferences so that NZ, Aus and maybe two Japanese teams make up one conference. That would surely make for a more profitable broadcast deal for us.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I actually want to wait and see who the bidding parties turn out to be. Word is the Asia-Pacific Dragons consortium has the finances. If both they and Japan provide compelling bids then I'd actually like to see them both entet as the 6th teams in the Aus and NZ conferenes.

That way if possible a second Argentine squad could be entered. Considering they have stated that beyond 2015 they will look to exclusively select their national side from Super Rugby I think they will need at least two in the short tetm.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

i'd agree with that
go straight to super 19 with two arg teams and a japan team
restructure the conferences. Aus + Japan, NZ, Africa and Arg 1, Africa and Arg 2. having the two arg teams in seperate conferences means they both play each other - good for rivalries and means teams from both NZ and Aus conference get to argentina on tours.

 

[Tex]

i'd agree with that
go straight to super 19 with two arg teams and a japan team
restructure the conferences. Aus + Japan, NZ, Africa and Arg 1, Africa and Arg 2. having the two arg teams in seperate conferences means they both play each other - good for rivalries and means teams from both NZ and Aus conference get to argentina on tours.

Yep. Bite the bullet. The proposal to have the Asian team playing in the African conference was daft from the get-go.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

absolutely. could be a relatively clean solution
AFR 1 - 3 SA teams, 1 Arg
AFR 2 - 3 SA teams, 1 Arg

AsiaPac 1 - 5 Aus Teams, 1 Jap
Asia Pac 2 - 5 NZ Teams.

Aus NZ benefit from the japanese games having more relevence and being in our time zone.

similar alternating conference system as in Asia Pac 1 plays internally, plays AsiaPac 2 and alternates between african conferences.

I also think - on an aside. there is a great opportunity to get a bit more rivalry between the NZ and Aus teams. ANZAC day games every year between the capitals canberra and wellington, Sydney v Auckland, Brisbane and Saders. and have melbourne v the force which is a solid little rivalry.

 

[Forcefield]

Can you fly directly from RSA to Argentina without going through Europe or the Middle East? If so, SAH's idea sounds good- only I'd consider adding a second team into the Asia Pac 2 and making it Super 20.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Only thing with that would be two conferences one with 8 teams and one with 12. Travel skewed in favor of Asia pacific teams a bit too much. The question is where would the Africa conference grow beyond two arg teams? Another SA and arg? Kenya?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

absolutely. could be a relatively clean solution
AFR 1 - 3 SA teams, 1 Arg
AFR 2 - 3 SA teams, 1 Arg

AsiaPac 1 - 5 Aus Teams, 1 Jap
Asia Pac 2 - 5 NZ Teams.

Aus NZ benefit from the japanese games having more relevence and being in our time zone.

similar alternating conference system as in Asia Pac 1 plays internally, plays AsiaPac 2 and alternates between african conferences.

I also think - on an aside. there is a great opportunity to get a bit more rivalry between the NZ and Aus teams. ANZAC day games every year between the capitals canberra and wellington, Sydney v Auckland, Brisbane and Saders. and have melbourne v the force which is a solid little rivalry.

I'd go one team further and enter the Asia Pacific Dragons if they meet the criteria. For those who claim it could reduce the quality of the competition I think we need to take into consideration that the Japanese entrant will essentially be their national team and the AP Dragons will be sourcing from the PI's and Europe predominantly. Argentina has enough talent to cover two squads. The only questionable one for mine would be the Kings.

 

[Omar Comin']

I'd consider adding a second team into the Asia Pac 2 and making it Super 20.

I think that would work best.

The thing is the Asian teams would all work better with Australia than with NZ due to time zone difference (Singapore is in the same time zone as Perth and Tokyo is one hour ahead).

So why not add one Australian team to the NZ conference and add the Japanese and Asia-Pacific Dragons (based in Singapore) to the Australian conference?

The NZ teams are all just as big a draw for most of the Australian teams as the local derby's, so I don't think it would be some huge disadvantage for the Australian team that plays in the NZ conference so long as it's not the Force. They could potentially change it each season among the 4 East Coast teams.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Only thing with that would be two conferences one with 8 teams and one with 12. Travel skewed in favor of Asia pacific teams a bit too much. The question is where would the Africa conference grow beyond two arg teams? Another SA and arg? Kenya?

Well, ideally you'd see Argentina with at least three teams in time. From there well, who really knows. Kenya may be an option post 2021 considering they are one of the major growth economies in Africa.

Ideally, sometime in the future hopefully we'd see Argentina form the spine of a Sth Am conference, South Africa another, Aus, NZ and hopefully a Nth Am conference.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I think that would work best.

The thing is the Asian teams would all work better with Australia than with NZ due to time zone difference (Singapore is in the same time zone as Perth and Tokyo is one hour ahead).

So why not add one Australian team to the NZ conference and add the Japanese and Asia-Pacific Dragons (based in Singapore) to the Australian conference?

The NZ teams are all just as big a draw for most of the Australian teams as the local derby's, so I don't think it would be some huge disadvantage for the Australian team that plays in the NZ conference so long as it's not the Force. They could potentially change it each season among the 4 East Coast teams.

No, I'd enter the Japanese team in the NZ conference and the Dragons in ours.

 

[Omar Comin']

No, I'd enter the Japanese team in the NZ conference and the Dragons in ours.

Fair enough, it could work. There would be advantages of them being in the same conference though. Teams could more easily play 2 matches in Asia at a time and it would reduce their travel requirements a little.

And the next step in the evolution will surely be a 5 or 6 team Asian conference so starting them off together would help develop a rivalry that could carry through to that.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

This from Steve Tew after the NZRU May board meeting:

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew is aware of "four" possible options for Super Rugby's 18th team.

The three Sanzar partners are due to present the new format to broadcasters on June 30 with Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong all thought to be in the mix to host the team.

"There are certainly some live options on the table," Tew said after the NZRU's May board meeting. "It's a work in progress and a deadline hasn't been reached yet. We're sure there are at least four groups that are seriously looking at a variety of locations around the Southern Hemisphere."

Contradicts what ARFU-guy said last week, not sure who to believe. As far as Japan goes, how does substituting a really long South-North flight for a really long West-East flight benefit anyone? And unless their stadium has a roof who's gonna wanna play in Tokyo in March?

 

[Bardon]

From what you've quoted it would suggest that the Japanese team wouldn't be based in Tokyo. Hope that's not true as I'd definitely enjoy some super rugby in Tokyo. Would prefer not to have the Top League as the only rugby available when I move there.

 

[Omar Comin']

This from Steve Tew after the NZRU May board meeting:

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew is aware of "four" possible options for Super Rugby's 18th team.

The three Sanzar partners are due to present the new format to broadcasters on June 30 with Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong all thought to be in the mix to host the team.

"There are certainly some live options on the table," Tew said after the NZRU's May board meeting. "It's a work in progress and a deadline hasn't been reached yet. We're sure there are at least four groups that are seriously looking at a variety of locations around the Southern Hemisphere."

Contradicts what ARFU-guy said last week, not sure who to believe. As far as Japan goes, how does substituting a really long South-North flight for a really long West-East flight benefit anyone? And unless their stadium has a roof who's gonna wanna play in Tokyo in March?

Weird that he says a variety of locations around the Southern Hemisphere given Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore (just) are in the Northern Hemisphere.

What's wrong with Tokyo in March? Looking at the weather averages it looks fine for rugby.

And long flights aren't a huge issue, traveling through time zones is the issue. An Asian team playing in a South African conference doesn't really make much sense.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Well it's Steve Tew so a certain level of weirdness is to be expected but to use "Asia" & "Southern hemisphere" in the same sentence is out there even for him. Unless of course they're gonna set up in Western Sydney, the GC or Eastern Auckland, plenty of Asians in those parts, I hear.

Would Tokyo in March not be much like Christchurch or Dunedin in September, which is to say potentially cold, wet & windy with a fair chance of late-season snow? Or is my climatology on a par with Tew's geography?

 

[Mr Wobbly]

The weather in Tokyo in March isn't that bad, a bit cold but quite dry. You certainly wouldn't expect snow. You're more likely to get really heavy rain in August-September.

Direct flights between Tokyo and Melbourne or Sydney are about 10.5 hours. According to Google, Tokyo to Jburg is over 19 hours. Considering the time difference it doesn't make much sense having Japan in a Saffer conference.

Rugby is a minority sport in Japan but it already has a bit of a TV audience. They show at least four Super Rugby matches live each week (including just about all of the Rebel's games) on pay TV.

 

[Bardon]

The weather in Tokyo in March generally isn't that bad. It's a bit mixed but should be past the snow period. Generally the weather is mild and improves the closer you get to sakura season (mid to late March when the cherry tree blossom). Then it's pretty sunny and generally dry.

Tokyo is on a similar latitude to the Mediterranean and has similar weather to the south of Spain and Italy. The major differences are the rainy season (June/July) and higher humidity in Japan.

I suppose the odd late winter might see a bit of snow in early March but that would be the exception rather than the rule.