Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham wants Australia’s Super Rugby limbo over as soon as possible.
SANZAAR’s executive meet on Friday (AEDT) to discuss the future of the Super Rugby competition, with the possibility of axing an Australian team one of a number of options believed to be on the agenda in the vote.
There’s no guarantee that a new format will be agreed upon in this meeting and even if there is, that may not be made public until the respective unions have returned home to discuss with their stakeholders.
The Brumbies and the Force have been the two teams most often discussed in debates about the fate of the Australian teams, with the ACT’s off-field battles in recent times and the Force’s on-field performance and financial issues the main arguments.
In a coincidental turn of events, these two teams who face off on Friday night, though Brumbies coach Larkham slapped down the notion that it may add an extra element to the clash.
“I'd like to think that doesn't come into the equation,” he said.
Speculation over which teams would face the chop, if any, has swirled for months now and Larkham said he was keen to see it end this weekend.
Reports have also emerged in recent days that all Australian Super Rugby teams have had their recruitment talks with non-Wallabies players frozen in wait for news of any changes.
“That would be ideal. That's certainly what we're expecting at this stage,” he said.
“It's probably dragged on a little bit longer than we would've liked already and halted our progress in certain areas but we're pretty confident we'll get a result out of the meeting this week and then we can just move forward next week.
“Obviously, our perception is we need five teams in this competition to build the depth of Australian rugby.”
The Brumbies take on the Force on Friday night, kicking off at 7:45pm AEDT LIVE on FOXSPORTS and via radio on RUGBY.com.au.
