Stuff
Sanzaar announces fresh Rugby Championship with mini-tour fixture schedule
The All Blacks have been forced to play in a southern hemisphere tournament without the Springboks in 2020.
Sanzaar has revised the strategic plan it adopted in 2018 to provide a new direction for rugby and the joint-venture organisation.
A statement released by Sanzaar on Wednesday stated that in light of the dramatic changes in the sporting landscape following the Covid-19 pandemic and its ongoing influence, the southern hemisphere rugby powers had “recognised the need for change in these difficult times’’.
Sanzaar, a joint-venture between the New Zealand, Argentina, Australia and South Africa unions, has committed to an international rugby future through to 2030 that includes a restructuring of the Sanzaar entity, a brand refresh, new development initiatives and a restructuring of domestic club/provincial tournament structures.
The Rugby Championship will continue to be the flagship of Southern Hemisphere rugby for the next decade and as in the past will be the key driver and pathway for unions’ continued success at the highest levels of the game.
Due to the pandemic, Super Rugby was canned in late March and that competition format will never return.
NZ Rugby, which launched Super Rugby Aotearoa following the cancellation of Super Rugby, has since declared it doesn’t want to return to the Super Rugby competition that was to involve 15 teams from New Zealand, Argentina, Australia and South Africa in 2021.
Instead NZ Rugby has decided it will stage SRA again next year, including a finals series, and also hoped to play crossover games against the five Australian teams later in the season.
Rugby Australia is expected to host its own domestic tournament. The South Africa Rugby Union has confirmed it will enter teams in the expanded Pro 14 competition in the Northern Hemisphere.
The SARU refused to send the Springboks to Australia to play in the Rugby Championship – which will be staged in one country because of the pandemic – because it didn’t believe the side had been given enough time to prepare for test matches.
The All Blacks, Wallabies and Pumas have since committed to playing in a revamped Tri Nations tournament.
Sanzaar said the Rugby Championship would be restructured to include a 12-match format with teams playing each other on a home or away basis through the new mini-tour match schedule that was adopted in 2019.
The world champion Springboks havenât played since their Rugby World Cup triumph over England in Japan a year ago.
“The re-commitment by the four Unions to the long term future of the international game is an important start as we embark in a new direction for both the Unions and the organisation over the coming years," Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos said.
“This is the first of a number of announcements that will be made over the coming weeks and months as we continue to plan into 2021 and beyond.
“The disruption during 2020 has been significant, however, despite the numerous setbacks and the inherent complexity of our vast geographical expanse, we have managed to keep the game alive and look forward to the remainder of the revised Tri Nations to bring the curtain down on the 2020 season."
