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No decision made on Western Force future - ARU

Super Rugby franchise Western Force

The Australia Rugby Union (ARU) moved to allay fears Western Force will be axed from Super Rugby, insisting no decision has been made on the future of the Perth-based franchise.

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The ARU responded to reports following widespread speculation on Monday that Force were set to fold amid rumours Super Rugby will be reduced from 18 to 15 teams by governing body SANZAAR for 2018-19.

Western Force – founded in 2005 – swiftly denied those reports on Monday and the ARU followed suit on Tuesday, saying no decision had been made on the future of the Super Rugby format or how many Australian teams would be involved.

“The ARU wishes to clarify its current position in the SANZAAR review of the Super Rugby competition,” ARU chief executive Bull Pulver said in a statement.

“As announced by SANZAAR following the SANZAAR Board meeting in London earlier this month, the four member nations have undertaken a period of stakeholder consultation to work towards an agreed outcome on the competition format for the 2018 season. This stakeholder consultation, which has included consultation with broadcast partners in each territory, is ongoing. At this point, there has been no determination on the future competition format or the teams involved in the competition.

“We also wish to confirm for the public record that no decision has been taken on the removal of one of Australia’s Super Rugby teams.

“ARU, as a joint venture partner of SANZAAR, is working towards a final resolution in the shortest timeframe possible and will inform Rugby fans as soon as an outcome is reached.”

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Nickers 15 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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