If it ain’t broke ... Super Rugby unchanged for 2017 but future tweaks and expansion possible
Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos accepts there are issues with the expanded 18-team southern hemisphere tournament, including the highly criticised home advantage format in the play-offs
Super Rugby will retain the same structure for 2017, but there is an acceptance that it is not perfect and changes are possible for the following season, Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos said on Monday.
The 2016 season was the first with 18 teams, including new franchises in Argentina and Japan, and there were some major mismatches as well as criticism of a conference system which allowed home advantage in the play-offs to some teams despite them having a worse records than others.
“Looking at the overall structure, the competition is locked and loaded for next year,” Marinos said.
“But we are looking at all the anomalies and see how we best can correct it. I’m not saying we will get everything right, but at least we can have a good crack at addressing it.”
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Nothing would be “off the table” when it came to proposed changes to the structure of the play-offs, he added, but expansion meant there could be no return to the days when each team played everyone else.
