ACT Brumbies coach Dan McKellar says he is "dumbfounded" by the decision to axe the Japan Sunwolves at a time he believes rugby in Asia is about to experience a massive boom.
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SANZAAR, Super Rugby's governing body, officially cut the Sunwolves from the competition on Friday, although the team will be forced to play the rest of this year and the 2020 season before being exiled.
The handling of the situation has raised more concerns about the state of the game and the waning interest in Super Rugby, which has consistently lost fans around the world in recent years.
Brumbies crowds have tumbled dramatically in the past 10 years, which hasn't been helped by lean results and constant changing formats of a confusing competition.
But McKellar questioned the timing of axing the Sunwolves just months before Japan hosts the World Cup and with the Sunwolves starting to find their groove on the field.
"I'm disappointed, to be honest," said McKellar, who coached in Japan for two years. "I've spent time up there coaching and still get up there to work with Suntory.
"The Sunwolves are a team that are just starting to come good. Their brand and style of rugby is one that people enjoy watching, and they're a tricky team to play against.
"It's disappointing. Rugby is thriving in Japan, we're about to have a World Cup there and the timing is just dumbfounding."
Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle estimated Australian franchises would share in "tens of millions of dollars" in savings without the Sunwolves in Super Rugby.
The Sunwolves absence means the competition will shift to a 14-team round-robin format, which means less Australian derbies and either six or seven home games per year.
"The reality is that, as much as we see Japan being an incredibly important part of the future of rugby, when the JRFU withdrew their underlying support for the Sunwolves and they couldn't find another way to guarantee that underwrite, it left the SANZAAR partners in an exposed positions financially," Castle said.
"And we didn't think that was in the best interests of the SANZAAR joint venture partnerships."
Some Australian franchises fear removing the Sunwolves will create an international bidding war for Wallabies stars. Australian teams are already struggling to compete with big-money offers from Europe, and throwing Top League teams into the mix adds another complication.
Australian teams have benefited from a international collaboration with Japan in recent years, with players being able to earn money in the Top League during the Super Rugby off-season.
Former Brumbies skipper Matt Giteau is playing for Suntory and was disappointed to see the Sunwolves lose their Super Rugby rights.
"I think you’ve only got to look at the way they’re progressing this year and the crowd attendances they've been getting and the excitement around the type of footy they’re playing," Giteau said.
"Other factors have come into consideration which add to it all but I’m not high up enough to know them or involved in that decision-making process.
"From a supporter point of view and someone who plays in Japan and seeing how much it means to them and how much it has helped the development of the game in Japan, it’s a sad thing to see."
The Sunwolves, who have won just seven of their 43 matches since joining the competition in 2016, avoided the chop when the Western Force, along with South Africa's Southern Kings and Cheetahs, were cut after last year's competition.
The fourth change of competition structure since 2010 will see a drop in Australian derbies from six per season to just three.
"Any good business or team has stability and Super Rugby hasn't had that over the last couple of years," McKellar said.
"We had the Western Force issues here and that wasn't a great reflection on the game. I think the Sunwolves, you talk about connecting with other teams, they're the sort of team people do have as their second favourite team. It's sad to think they won't be there from 2021."
