SURVEY: Japan or Singapore to be the 18th Super Rugby Team?

[ratsapprentice]

A long haul flight is a long haul flight - the flight to Singapore is still over 10+hrs.

 

[lynam1104]

Just checked the flight times - Perth is about a 30 minute shorter flight.

Either way, I suppose the point clearly stands that it's still f##king retarded having Singapore considered for the South African conference. I mean FFS, why don't we put a Chinese team in there with them while we're at it?

Yea if Singapore were to join any conference it should be Aus.

 

[goodNumber10]

It's not just the squad flights though... moving these teams is a massive logisitics operation, kit travels on ahead, by cargo and non-commercial means etc... you've got to stop thinking in terms of moving individuals.

 

[RoosTah]

Rugby is more popular than you might imagine here, firstly in terms of locals the majority of the private schools have rugby as their number one sport while I know its not most of the locals its better than none. I would also say that with expats it may be the more popular sport, come down to my club on a saturday morning from anytime between 9-12/1pm and you will find hundreds of kids and their parents.Not sure if they would be played in front of empty crowds, the SCC 7s every year draws in a big crowd and the World Club 10s in june had a crowd of 10,000.

I know there's a presence, but at the end of the day you're still putting a team in a city that will require almost exclusively on it's roughly 1 million expat population for an audience. The problem with that is two fold: first, your key market aren't attached to their city in the way a born and bred local is, so they're immediately less likely to get excited about a local team (most people I know who've spent time over there have just ignored all the local sport altogether and continued watching their NRL and AFL teams back in Aus on cable); and second, you really have to carve that number up and work out how many of those expats are from rugby playing countries.

So when you nut it out, your potential demographic is a fraction of the 1 million expats who come from rugby nations, and the fraction with in that who actually give a toss about Singapore and aren't just on a contract with work. When all is said an done I reckon you'd be lucky to get the same sort of crowd that a city like Hobart might manage.

Lastly, a club rugby team should also have a developmental rationale. For Japan and Argentina the case is glaringly obvious, but what is it for Singapore? Are we somehow hoping the city state will become a force in world rugby? Will the Vatican be the next city state we give a team to?

I honestly would love to see the business case for this proposal, as to me it makes about as much sense as putting a team in Stockholm.

It's not just the squad flights though... moving these teams is a massive logisitics operation, kit travels on ahead, by cargo and non-commercial means etc... you've got to stop thinking in terms of moving individuals.

Which is again another reason Singapore or Japan are the last places on the planet that a team in the South African conference should be.

 

[goodNumber10]

I couldn't tell, you but I would have thought Japan would have excellent cargo and commercial operations.

They should have just put the team in dubai

 

[ratsapprentice]

Which is again another reason Singapore or Japan are the last places on the planet that a team in the South African conference should be.

The flights to Australia are just as long.

 

[RoosTah]

I would have thought Japan would have excellent cargo and commercial operations.

they should have just put the team in dubai.

That would honestly make as much sense.

The flights to Australia are just as long.

Indeed, but then Australia aren't in the SA conference, so they only play 4 of the teams once in the season and only 2 away, as distinct from the intra-conference matches, which each play eachother home and away.

 

[nickdnz]

It's certainly going to be difficult maintaining interest in Super Rugby. I'm not against any additional team within a 16-18-20 team round robin, but this conference thing is quite simply ridiculous.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

ITO the competition's logistical integrity it'd have made more sense to base the extra team in Africa; Zimbabwe for instance or while we are adding Argentina, why not keep it cross atlantic and have a team in one of Uruguay, Canada or the USA; not less pottential than Japan as or Singapore as a market surely?!~ or all of them; 5 SA teams in 1 conference and 1 SA, 1 Arg, 1 USA, 1 Canadian and 1 in Urugay to make the other and come to 10 'Western teams' total to mirror the 10 in NZ/Aus.

 

[RoosTah]

It's certainly going to be difficult maintaining interest in Super Rugby. I'm not against any additional team within a 16-18-20 team round robin, but this conference thing is quite simply ridiculous.

Yeah, you're not wrong - the whole system they're proposing destroys the integrity of the competition and I think it will kill support in Australia at the very least.

 

[lynam1104]

Yeah, you're not wrong - the whole system they're proposing destroys the integrity of the competition and I think it will kill support in Australia at the very least.

They definitely have gone the most confusing way about it, I wonder how long club rugby world wide can be sustained in its current state before it all blows up the their faces, I give it 7 years.

 

[RoosTah]

They definitely have gone the most confusing way about it, I wonder how long club rugby world wide can be sustained in its current state before it all blows up the their faces, I give it 7 years.

It really does just make no sense to me whatsoever... As I said, there has to be a business rationale with some impressive looking $$ for them to be considering, but it's akin to accepting a big short term contract with a dubious buyer over a smaller contract from a more stable partner with better fundamentals and growth prospects.

 

[kovana]

Well... I would rather they had 2 Argy teams...

But since SANZAR Are a bunch of fools and are pushing ahead with this... Im going with Japan.

They already have a fully pro domestic comp and should get the nod ahead of Singapore. Singapore would be a joke btw,

 

[LittleGuy]

Well... I would rather they had 2 Argy teams...

But since SANZAR Are a bunch of fools and are pushing ahead with this... Im going with Japan.

They already have a fully pro domestic comp and should get the nod ahead of Singapore. Singapore would be a joke btw,

Absolutely agreed, and if the Argies were having trouble stocking the team with players the 2nd franchise could have been opened up to other players from the America's e.g. United States, Canada, Uruguay.

One team would be based in Buenos Aires while the other would be a team focused more on the interior based on places like Mendoza, Salta et. al.

 

[Beerfalo]

Absolutely agreed, and if the Argies were having trouble stocking the team with players the 2nd franchise could have been opened up to other players from the America's e.g. United States, Canada, Uruguay.

One team would be based in Buenos Aires while the other would be a team focused more on the interior based on places like Mendoza, Salta et. al.

I think it was that Argentina couldn't afford two teams, not that they didn't have players to field two. If money wasn't an issue then it would have made the most sense to have two Argentina based teams instead of one Argentina/one Asian.

 

[LittleGuy]

I think it was that Argentina couldn't afford two teams, not that they didn't have players to field two. If money wasn't an issue then it would have made the most sense to have two Argentina based teams instead of one Argentina/one Asian.

That's a good point, though I'd argue the lack of money may be somewhat interlinked with the player issue, getting those top Pumas back from France they will have to offer competitive contracts, some of the decent players from the rest of the America's might not be commanding the kind of salary expectations that long time Argentine players would and might be good value pick ups for a 2nd Argentine side.

Perhaps if the first Argentine franchise is succesful they can look at adding another one down the road, the conferences wil be unbalanced at the moment(though moving the Farce to the SA one could solve that also.)

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

i suppose one japanese team going into the super 15 will not only create chance for development off japanese rugby i can see Horie/Tanaka moving back to japan to play for the new Super 15 Japanese team and that could give him more game and more game time for him = very good things

 

[RWC2011Fan]

It's certainly going to be difficult maintaining interest in Super Rugby. I'm not against any additional team within a 16-18-20 team round robin, but this conference thing is quite simply ridiculous.

Do you think they'd ever consider introducing a pool-based system? Like what they do in Europe.

Might create a bit more interest in competitions like the ITM Cup as well, since NZ sides wouldn't play each other as frequently.

 

[Beerfalo]

Yo LittleGuy, I think I heard Argentina is going through a recession and even soccer teams are having money issues. I know Argentina wound up pulling Pampas XV out of the Vodacom Cup due to financial reasons. It definitely would have been cool to have a 2nd Americas based team in Super Rugby, whether it was Argentinian or for the rest of the Americas. Definitely would make for better viewing hours for N/S American fans which I'm quite partial to.

 

[LittleGuy]

Yo LittleGuy, I think I heard Argentina is going through a recession and even soccer teams are having money issues. I know Argentina wound up pulling Pampas XV out of the Vodacom Cup due to financial reasons. It definitely would have been cool to have a 2nd Americas based team in Super Rugby, whether it was Argentinian or for the rest of the Americas. Definitely would make for better viewing hours for N/S American fans which I'm quite partial to.

Yeah they have come close to a default once again, they've pretty much been in a permanent recession since 1900 LOL. They were wealthier than Canada than and one of the most advanced countries in the world, Argentina is basicallly the case study for how to turn a good economy and wreck it completely. In my economic history class years ago we went back to them a number of times as an example of what not to do policy wise. Especially when compared to their neighbour Chile which experienced amazing growth during the same period.