Canterbury Crusaders will receive a New Zealand Rugby Union bailout to ease the financial blow suffered in the Christchurch earthquake, reports say.
Administrators are looking to this year’s Super 14 to provide a much-needed turnaround in television audience share and fan disillusionment
An expanded United States conference-style Super rugby series is being touted by the New Zealand Rugby Union as a way of reviving the flagging Super 14 rugby tournament for the 2010 season. NZRU officials have begun a nationwide tour of all the franchises and provinces to divulge their concepts, which then need to be accepted by Sanzar partners.
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will look at introducing experimental law variations (ELVs) for this year’s Tri-Nations tournament. The International Rugby Board said on Thursday that 13 of the 23 ELVs, many of which are being trialled in this year’s Super 14 competition, would be adopted for a 12-month global trial from August 1.
New Zealand Rugby Union boss Steve Tew was forced into the role of moderator on Thursday as Australian counterpart John O’Neill espoused a radical plan to revamp Super 14 rugby. O’Neill said ”high level discussion” had begun on a plan to expand the tournament to six-and-a-half months from February to August.
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/ 4 December 2007
Next year’s Super 14 competition will trial several law changes designed to make the game faster and more exciting to watch. The decision to introduce the Experimental Law Variations was taken at a South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.
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/ 26 October 2007
The World Cup last week then the EDF Energy Cup this? Not quite, but Butch James will barely have time for the Springboks’ victory tour of South Africa before he is back on a plane heading for Europe. After signing a two-year contract with Bath this summer, the flyhalf is expected to be in the squad when the Heineken and European Challenge cups start on November 9.
Club rugby in the northern hemisphere has long been derided as the poor cousin in world rugby. But the post-World Cup exodus of a raft of top-flight internationals from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will help confound that long-standing belief.