SUPER RUGBY
Australia’s culling of one of five teams heads for arbitration
Sydney — The Australian Rugby Union’s messy process of axing one of its five Super Rugby teams enters a potentially decisive phase when the governing body and the Perth-based Western Force go into arbitration. The union said in mid-April that the Force or the Melbourne Rebels would be culled, along with two teams from SA, to allow the largely southern hemisphere competition to contract from 18 back to 15 sides for the 2018 season. The Force, overwhelming favourites for the chop, launched legal action to defend their position. The Rebels were always unlikely to be closed down, given it would cost up to A$13m ($10.3m) to buy out the franchise’s private owner and pay back the Victorian state government for its investment in the game. That remains a prohibitive sum, given that the cull was initially embarked on as a cost-cutting exercise aimed at allowing the Australian Rugby Union to focus investment and talent on the remaining four teams. The Force concluded their Super Rugby season w...
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