A former New Zealand rugby powerbroker has pointed the finger squarely at South Africa for Super Rugby’s financial collapse.
Ex-New Zealand Rugby chair Brent Impey claims the exit of the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers in 2020 was inevitable, and driven by economics.
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His comments come at a turbulent time for Super Rugby Pacific, with Moana Pasifika set to fold and fresh overhaul plans already on the table.
“I don’t think there was any choice,” Impey said on the DSPN podcast.
“There were a combination of factors. First of all, there was Covid, which meant that we couldn’t travel to South Africa, or they couldn’t travel here.
“There was that restriction, which was significant, and the cost of airfares meant that it became completely uneconomic and that unfortunately included the Jaguares out of Argentina.”
But it was the financial model – not just logistics – that proved decisive.
“In 2020, SuperSport in South Africa changed it to the rand… By 2020 it was 12 to one,” Impey said, referencing the shift away from US dollar-based broadcast deals.
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That, he insists, was the “killer blow”.
“The South Africans made it completely uneconomic and had we gone ahead with that deal, New Zealand Rugby would have had to subsidise not only Australia and Argentina… to having to subsidise the lot. We simply couldn’t afford that.”
South Africa’s long-standing ambition to align with northern hemisphere rugby ultimately saw the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers join the URC in 2021.
Photo: Gordon Arons/Gallo Images
The post SA made Super Rugby ‘completely uneconomic’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
A former New Zealand rugby powerbroker has pointed the finger squarely at South Africa for Super Rugby’s financial collapse.
The post SA made Super Rugby ‘completely uneconomic’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
