“We know there is an enormous appetite for the game in Japan with an estimated 20 million Japanese fans tuning in to the Rugby World Cup so far, spurred on by the national team’s stunning upset of South Africa“, Pulver said in a statement.
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The new Argentinean team gets its maiden Super Rugby campaign underway in Bloemfontein against the Cheetahs while the Port-Elizabeth-based Kings re-enter the competition with a clash against the Sharks at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The Super 18 configuration will have an Australasian group comprising an Australian conference (Brumbies, Western Force, Melbourne Rebels, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs) and a New Zealand conference (Blues, Waikato Chiefs, Canterbury Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes).
The new Japanese franchise, yet to unveil a team name or squad list, have been drawn in one of two South African Conferences alongside the Bulls, Cheetahs, Stormers on February 27, 2016.
The 18-team competition will be played in four conferences, one in Australia, one in New Zealand and two in South Africa. We want to grow our fan base and ensure existing fans stay loving our game.
This year fans will be treated to more Super Rugby than ever before, with a regular season consisting of 135 matches (up from 120 matches in 2015) and an eight-team finals series featuring seven crucial Finals matches including the Asteron Life Super Rugby Final.
The new teams from Japan and Argentina will face Lions and Cheetahs respectively in the opening round of the revamped Super Rugby competition.
A team from Japan and Argentina will enter the competition for the first time next season, with the league’s governing body SANZAR yet to announce the sides who will compete.
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Having undertaken a full review and analysis of the hosting model as a outcome of the loss of Tokyo’s new National Stadium as a host venue, World Rugby’s Executive Committee is satisfied that the revised vision proposed by the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee, with the full support of the Japan Government, meets the required criteria set by owners Rugby World Cup Limited and the World Rugby Council. The chrome and gold-plated piece is meant to capture the prestige, grandeur and resilience of one of the world’s toughest sporting competitions. “So, yes, numerous current Japan players are likely to play in the Super 18s”. “For five years the tournament was played, a South Pacific Championship or Super Six, which led to “expansion” when South Africa re-entered the rugby world and it was reborn into the Super 10 in 1993, where it ran until 1995, prior to the game becoming professional”. With the eyes on the world of rugby, a serious head injury would have very negative implications.
