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It looks like the Crusaders will have a chance to defend their Super Rugby Aotearoa crown in 2021.
Super Rugby Aotearoa was a big winner amid the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and it seems increasingly likely that it will be called up for the second year in a row as the global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the sports landscape.
Highly located sources have indicated Stuff that another compromise solution for Super Rugby is likely to be implemented in 2021, with the clock ticking on a proposed format that will allow franchises and national unions to establish suitable trade agreements.
Given that Covid continues to make international travel an unlikely mode of transport for the first part of next year, at least, it seems likely that both New Zealand and Australia will open the 2021 season with ‘local’ franchise competitions, to Super Rugby. Aotearoa which turned out to be a huge success after the initial closing of this year.
But the plan is for these to then morph into a final Tasmanian-type playoff series that could unfold in the later part of the competition’s time frame. Japan could be included in this as well, if the pandemic, politics and timing allow.
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Stuff understands that the discussions have also taken into account a third international level for the franchise league, which could bring South Africa and even lead to a global tiebreaker that includes the best clubs in the northern hemisphere. But this is unlikely to be possible until the world reopens, probably thanks to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Fluency is the name of the game today, as officials work on potential scenarios for 2021 at the franchise level. But it is understood that some sort of framework is expected to be announced in October to allow things like trade associations, membership programs, and streaming deals to be established. Recruitment of players and coaches also requires some certainty in terms of proficiency parameters.
The five New Zealand franchises and New Zealand Rugby communicate regularly about this and sources indicate that there has even been a thaw in the trans-Tasmania relationship, with discussions as cordial as they have been during this troubled year.
Australia is desperate to keep the five existing franchises going forward and, after some initial resistance from New Zealand on this, it appears that Kiwi’s hardliners are softening.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Kiwi fans packed the stands for Super Rugby Aotearoa and will likely be asked to do so again next year.
The success of Super Rugby Aotearoa leaves all five New Zealand franchises comfortable with that as a foundation for the first part of the competition in 2021, but there is a strong desire for it to evolve into regional playoffs that bring much-needed freshness to their backs. . part of the season.
Stuff understands that the franchises are also in favor of a final being played in 2021 to decide the overall champion of Aotearoa (the competition was a double round-robin this year), but from there, the leading teams would face their equivalents from Australia and possibly Japan.
Initial thoughts had been that full-blown trans-Tasmania competition could take place in 2021, but it seems likely that the second wave of Covid in both New Zealand and Australia will throw that into the basket “too difficult”.
However, one victim of the continuing uncertainty and financial difficulties caused by the pandemic could be Pasifika’s proposed team. While there remains strong support for the concept from New Zealand’s rugby ranks, there is a sense that you might have to wait at least a year as both New Zealand and Australia address their most pressing needs first in the home front.
However StuffThe source indicated that it was in no way a setback for the idea of a Pasifika team in Super Rugby, only that “if it’s going to be done, it has to be done well.”
For now, it looks like it will take another year to work through the arrangements and planning and for the world to step back to normal. Until then, compromise remains very much the name of the game.
