Super Rugby Could be Completely Scraped Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

While the Super Rugby remains indefinitely suspended, it is under the threat of complete cancellation.

Super Rugby has had many problems to withstand as a league. Majorly, it became difficult for the players from different time zones to cope up with the competition. With the recent travel bans due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has become even more difficult for the league to sustain.

While the officials say the league is temporarily inactive, Yahoo reports that they are preparing for it to be shut down.

“Without that revenue, without the ability to be playing in front of stadiums that have crowds, it all does have a direct impact on the bottom line,” SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos told Newshub.

“That’s something I know the national unions are dealing with all of their clubs and then indirectly with all their governments.”

Officials looking to replace Super Rugby with domestic competitions

If SANZAAR shuts down Super Rugby, the officials are looking to replace it with domestic competitions. NZR chief executive Mark Robinson confirmed they are working on a domestic league with five New Zealand Super Rugby teams.

He felt that the domestic competitions would bring in the revenue it has been lacking.

“We’ve got 10-12 weeks to look to provide some rugby product for our fans,” he told The Breakdown television show.

“We’ve had some great ideas and feedback not only what it might look like on the field, with some potential innovations in that space, but also a wide range of thinking about how we make the best of the situation to help drive revenue and provide something different in this market. Because we know that people are going to be interested.”

A domestic competition would mean that the major problem of Super Rugby would not come up. The constraint of players coming from different timezones.