No hype but lots of hope at Super Rugby launch

TIMES have changed for Super Rugby in Australia, with one team cut from the competition, a new CEO and plenty of off-field dramas to deal with.

(L-R) Christian Lealiifano of the Brumbies, Michael Hooper of the Waratahs, Scott Higginbotham of the Reds and Adam Coleman of the Rebels at the 2018 Super Rugby season launch.

UNLIKE previous years, when it was hoped “all five” Australian Super Rugby teams would be finalists, there was a subdued launch for the 2018 season in Brisbane on Sunday.

For starters, there are now only four teams — the Western Force having been cut and the players dispersed to the remaining clubs, mostly Melbourne.

And with Australian teams recording no wins and 26 losses to Kiwi sides last year, and the New Zealand sides once again excelling in the Brisbane Tens last weekend, no bold declarations were forthcoming.

Instead, new Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle emphasised the need for teams to leave it all on the pitch, and players to behave off it.

(L-R) Christian Lealiifano of the Brumbies, Michael Hooper of the Waratahs, Scott Higginbotham of the Reds and Adam Coleman of the Rebels at the 2018 Super Rugby season launch.

“A player who is a Wallaby should see themselves as a Wallaby 365 days a year,” Castle said. “They don’t wear a Wallaby jersey when they’re playing for the Rebels or the Brumbies, but they have to carry themselves as someone who is either representing or may represent in the future the Wallaby team. That’s important; they’ve got to wear that and carry that, and they should wear it with pride.”

It comes amid off-field scandals involving Queensland Wallabies Karmichael Hunt and George Smith, who were arrested in Brisbane and Japan respectively.

Hunt’s drug charge will be heard in court on February 19, with an independent body appointed by the ARU set to rule on his future regardless of the outcome afterwards.

Smith spent weeks in a jail cell in Japan after running out of a taxi without paying his fare. He has been sacked by Japanese club Suntory and was fined by the Reds upon return to Brisbane.

Since the Waratahs won the title in 2014 no Australian team has made the final, and last year’s ongoing trans-Tasman slaughter has shaken much of the confidence from supporters and officials.

“Fans want to be able buy their ticket and sit in their seat and have hope that their team is going to win, you don’t have to win all the time, but most importantly when the game is finished they want to see that their team has left absolutely everything on the field,” Castle said.

Originally published as No hype but lots of hope at Super Rugby launch