Surviving The Perfect Storm

Super Rugby has battled through a tough last few years, but there are major problems on the horizon that won't be so easy to solve leaving doubts about its long-term future.

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There have been ample predictions in the last decade which have claimed Super Rugby is doomed. The portents of doom have been such that every year since 2016, Super Rugby has kicked off with a strong sense that it could be the last competition.

Yet, here we are, starting another competition in 2020 and however much it may seem like Super Rugby is on the ropes and likely to tumble at any time, it continually finds a way to roll with the punches and survive.

But the pressure is intensifying and the problems are mounting to the extent that no one should be flippant about how things are poised.

Yes there have been difficult periods that Super Rugby has weathered but this time it may be different. This time there may not be an escape hatch.

The stars have aligned badly for Super Rugby as both Australia and South Africa are facing serious issues at the same time. The situation in Australia is of most concern. The game there has been in decline in every sense for the last 10 years.

Playing numbers are shrinking. Fans are drifting away and the lack of success at the elite level is accelerating both the lack of new recruits and declining interest.

The Wallabies making the World Cup final in 2015 and the Waratahs winning Super Rugby in 2014 are the only successes Australia has enjoyed recently.

Such paltry returns have left fans feeling underwhelmed. Then there is the fact that two of their four Super Rugby clubs have been consistently poor bordering on awful. The Reds have been in a particularly tragic state as they have been rooted to the bottom of the table since 2012. The Rebels have spent plenty of cash but have been erratic and not hugely impressive since they launched in 2011.