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Sunwolves to be axed from Super Rugby - Reports


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Several reports in Australian media have confirmed that the Sunwolves will be axed from Super Rugby after the 2020 season.

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It is believed that South Africa are behind calls to remove the Japanese based franchise from the competition, citing travel distance and lack of interest in their games.

Japan’s support of France over South Africa for their 2023 Rugby World Cup bid also frustrated SA Rugby and could be seen as a contributing factor.

SANZAAR have refused to comment, but will issue an official statement on the future of the Super Rugby tournament on Friday 22 March at 14:00 Sydney local time.

A spokesperson for the Sunwolves told The Australian that they had been asked to pay a Super Rugby participation fee, something which is not asked of other franchises.

The timing is not ideal with the Rugby World Cup set to take place in Japan in less than 8 months.

More to follow

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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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