Pick'n Go
Where to now for Super Rugby?
Sam Bruce
July 7, 2015
Hurricanes 14-21 Highlanders (Australia only)

It was a fitting way to end the five-year existence of Super Rugby's three-conference format, a game played at furious pace between two sides that wanted to run the ball.

Saturday's decider between the Hurricanes and Highlanders joined the 2011, '13 and '14 championship games in the "classics" class of Super Rugby finals, proving, despite all the conjecture around the ranking system, that the competition had largely kept its integrity intact.

The Reds, Chiefs, Waratahs and Highlanders were all worthy winners of the title throughout that time while the Crusaders - twice - and the Hurricanes were left to ponder what might have been. At the other end of the table, the usual suspects abounded - with the Cheetahs, Lions, Rebels and Force all suffering lean years save for one outlying season that, for the Melbourne- and Johannesburg-based franchises, came this year.

On the whole, however, the three-conference tournament was a competition that worked. The South African sides will point to their brutal four-week road trips as a reason why they failed to register a title during that time; but were any of them really deserving of champions status? The short answer is "no".

The Hurricanes were the best team all year, but fell at the final hurdle © Getty Images
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So what now for the future of Super Rugby?

The competition expands to 18 teams next year, welcoming a sixth South African franchise as well as teams from Argentina and Japan, which will be based in Buenos Aires and Tokyo, respectively. The competition will go from being a three-conference tournament to one with two groups that in turn are split into two conferences.

In an attempt to help you dodge a headache, let's just say the format for Super Rugby from 2016 has the potential to create more confusion than the movie Inception; it's four competitions, inside two competitions, inside one competition, played across five countries. To give you a brief synopsis, the teams will each play one less game than this season - for a total of 15 - while the only real improvement for Australian fans is the fact that their sides will go back to facing all five New Zealand franchises. They have, however, lost two local derbies.

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The expanded competition will undoubtedly get off to a shiny start when fans will be intrigued by the additions from Japan and Argentina. But what happens when the novelty wears off? And how will South Africa fill a sixth team - the Southern Kings - when only the seventh-placed Stormers made the play-offs in 2015 as the top-ranked South African side? Meanwhile, the poor old Cheetahs have been pillaged by the Sharks while more and more South African players are taking up deals in Japan and Europe.

What happens if the Japanese team - who're struggling to sign players - are subject to flogging after flogging? And what about the alternating cross-conference set-up; it would certainly have been far easier for South African teams to play only their Australian counterparts this season.

How will the Japanese side adjust to Super Rugby? © Getty Images
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Furthermore, a number of Wallabies and All Blacks stars are taking off for Europe while there will also be some significant retirements in New Zealand - namely the likes of Richie McCaw, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock. Luckily, the next crop of rising New Zealand talent has already announced itself in the form of Nehe Milner-Skudder, Waisake Naholo and Akira Ioane.

SANZAR opted for expansion and the opportunity to take advantage of the Asian market, a smart move in the run-up to Rugby World Cup 2019 hosted by Japan. We're also told that an improved broadcast deal has been secured; though that could be the doing of Chinese whispers such has been the wait for final confirmation.

But no matter how much extra money the new deal puts in the pocket of the various governing bodies - the struggling Australian Rugby Union in particular - fans will quickly vote with their feet and television sets if the quality of the new competition is compromised. Growth is good for the game so long as existing fans aren't alienated, and when you set about trying to explain the new format that becomes a distinct possibility.

One-sided results will only add to that risk, as will the memory of last weekend's thrilling finale.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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