Canterbury Crusaders reign supreme but Super Rugby future remains cloudy

A record eighth title for the New Zealand powerhouses does nothing to remove the question marks over the future of the competition

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Kieran Read of the Canterbury Crusaders scores a try during the Super Rugby match against South Africa’s Western Stormers. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:52pm, 6 Aug 2017Updated: 11:30pm, 6 Aug 2017

There is nothing more traditional than the Canterbury Crusaders as Super Rugby champions but a record eighth title for the New Zealand powerhouse will do nothing to remove the question marks over the future of the competition.

The 25-17 victory over South Africa’s the Lions in Johannesburg that secured the Crusaders a first title since 2008 on Saturday also brought an end to the failed experiment of an 18-team competition after just two seasons.

Gone is the confidence of 18 months ago when rugby administrators were praising the idea of bringing in teams from Argentina and Japan and talking about further ‘inevitable’ expansion into untapped markets in Asia and North America.

Joe Moody of the Crusaders scores a try as he is tackled by Ross Cronje of the Lions. Photo: EPA

Instead, against a backdrop of falling revenues and fan interest, southern hemisphere rugby’s governing body SANZAAR went back to the future by cutting three teams from the competition for next season.

While South Africa has already dropped two, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is still locked in the messy process of choosing to cull either the Melbourne Rebels or Perth-based Western Force.

The Force, who rallied significant fan support in Perth and then received the backing of mining magnate Andrew Forrest, began arbitration with the ARU last week.