Super Rugby will expand into Japan or Singapore in 2016
SANZAR, the organisation that administers Super Rugby, have confirmed that either a team from Japan or Singapore will join the competition as an eighteenth team when the League expands in 2016.
Currently, there are fifteen teams playing in Super Rugby and SANZAR have confirmed that an additional South African team, The Kings, an Argentinian side and a club from either Japan or Singapore will be added in 2016.
Speaking on the expansion, SANZAR CEO, Greg Peters spoke of the potential for growth in the Asian region and expressed the IRB’s willingness to grow in that part of the world
“We are now able to confirm that two parties from Asia will compete for the opportunity to join an expanded Super Rugby competition in 2016. Asia is a region that has been the focus of considerable investment by the International Rugby Board in recent years and is a strategically sound location for the evolution of Super Rugby.
“We were happy with the number of responses received, however the two stand-out expressions of interest that were most attractive to the SANZAR Unions were received from Japan and Singapore
Initially, the expansion teams will struggle against the class and experience of the established Super Rugby teams, but, eventually, citing Italy’s introduction to the Six Nations as a precedent, exposure against better opposition will be of major benefit to the new clubs and their respective national teams. All in all, such a move is positive for Rugby as a whole.
