Super Six Rugby

Overview

The facts are that SANZAR will simply not permit the expansion of Super 15 to Super 16 in 2013 because quite simply SANZAR has broadcast and sponsor agreements in place till 2015.

Similarly, all 5 South African Super Rugby franchises have player and sponsor agreements in place till 2015.
There is not one jot of paper that obligates SARU to include the Southern Kings in Super 15 next year.

On the 8th June 2005 SA Rugby, now SARU, took a legal and binding Presidents Council decision that included the 3 Eastern Cape Rugby Unions in Super Rugby from 2006. In attendance at that meeting was current President Oregan Hoskins, James Stoffberg Chairman of the Competitions Committee and 4 other Presidents, as well as the CFO Basil Haddad, who are still on the SARU EXCO today.

Under Hoskins, backed by the other 5 Super Rugby franchises, they decided to exclude three of their 14 Rugby Unions, namely Border Rugby, EP Rugby and SWD from Super Rugby in 2007 and 2008 with entrenchment and then a cumbersome, ill thought out promotion relegation match thereafter.

It was always going to be about what was the team sitting out going to do and needless to say that was never addressed and here we are today with SARU facing the cannibilisation of its franchises, to the detriment of SA Rugby, pondering the same dillemma.

To this day, 7 years later, there still is no blueprint or ‘will’ from SARU to include these three Rugby Unions in Super Rugby and they have suffered from this exclusion. In fact, SANZAR will not alter its Super 15 competition format until post 2015, effectively excluding these three rugby unions till post 2015.

While there is the best of intentions from SA Rugby, the three Eastern Cape teams, as well as the political and national will to see the introduction and inclusion of the three Eastern Cape unions in Super Rugby in 2013, now after 7 years there has been no coherent strategic pathway mapped out for either a promotion/relegation tournament, nor the financial resources required to underwrite the financial resource burden to SA Rugby, of the three Eastern Cape teams that have had no Super Rugby participation for 12 years.

The Super 15 TV schedules are fixed from 2011-2015, for 5 teams per SANZAR union so consideration instead should be given to each of the SANZAR unions expansion with the addition of an extra team from 2016 onwards, which is where SARU should have their attention focussed.

To alter the existing Super 15 format, will unleash a torrent of litigation from the existing 5 South African franchise participants and their sponsors, against SA Rugby and the Eastern Cape unions, further draining resources and energies away from building SA Rugby's players and unions.

An alternative pathway and strategy exists as a solution that will:

• defuse a potentially volatile and emotionally charged political and sporting powder keg in
South Africa

• Equally & fairly develop SA Rugby's three Eastern Cape rugby unions and their financial resources to make them independent
• Develop a pathway for the inclusion of the Eastern Cape unions into the SANZAR Super
Rugby tournament from 2016
• Create new international viewership audiences to grow the game
• Establish a South African rugby presence from schools to universities in powerful new growth markets
• Establish new TV alliances and audiences for Super Sport and SABC to provide the necessary TV coverage

This alternative pathway and solution with the introduction of a "Super 6 Series" international rugby tournament from June-August from 2012-2015 in a home (5 games) and away (5 games) series, that will comprise of:

• Border Rugby - based out of Buffalo City (East London) stadium
• EP Kings - out of Mandela Bay Stadium
• SWD Eagles - out of Outeniqua Park
• "The SA Franchise-In-Waiting Team" - A Barbarians styled team comprising emerging South African and Eastern Cape talent and overseas based South African & opposing country players out of Mandela Bay Stadium
• USA #1: The top Western Conference team from the USA Rugby's Premier Rugby tournament in the West Coast of the USA – San Francisco Golden Gate
• USA # 2: The top Eastern Conference team from the USA Rugby's Premier Rugby tournament in the East Coast of the USA – Life University

The rationale for taking the top two Premier Rugby teams from their Eastern & Western Conference allows a rotation of their top two teams vying for these two berths and offers a powerful incentive for the 12 USA Rugby Premier Rugby teams to grow their regional structures and teams.

In addition, the USA offers a significant market, for South Africa to attract TV audiences, spectators and sponsor partners and the 12 Premier Rugby teams desire such an initiative.

The "Franchise-In-Waiting" team offers a team entity that retains South African player and coaching talent that might have been lost to South Africa and this team could play the Maoris, or some of the Australian and Argentina teams outside of the super rugby tournament windows and be coached by Peter de Villiers, so his expertise is not lost to SA Rugby.

All involved in rugby agree on the significant benefits that would accrue to Border, EP & SWD which in a matter of hours, needs to be vetted and agreed by the Competition Committee to progress this.

Rather than pursue an agenda of conflict, the Minister of Sport, now has the unique opportunity to do an intervention and in a day, with the participation of all stakeholders, deliver a solution of harmony and inclusiveness by endorsing and insisting SARU implement a proposed "Super 6" international rugby tournament that would assist the growth and introduction of the 3 Eastern Cape teams, as well as all of SA Rugby, into "Super" rugby, in preparation for winning the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and establishing a new improved Super Rugby Tournament from 2016 and beyond.