Venue would have counted against it, even if they did bid.
Schmidtâs extension means heâll be in charge until the final Bledisloe Cup fixture in Perth on October 4.
The 2025 season launch was held last week.
I felt something is missing with Melbourne Rebels expelled from the competition due to financial troubles. Will there be another team based in Melbourne in the future?
No. Australian rugby is buggered.
No - but getting rid of them might be the best thing for the competitiveness of the competition.
No, that might be to get out of Super Rugby, leave NZ to their own devices and go from there. Weâll never win Super Rugby as long as we live whilst the current regime is in charge.
As far as silver linings go, it is a slim one after the Rebels debacle. Another one is now at least the competition wonât suffer from a series of bye weeks that have stopped the momentum dead in its tracks over the past couple of seasons.
Try telling that to the QLD Reds.
Smartech Business Systems was today named the new major sponsor of both menâs and womenâs Super Rugby competitions in Australia for 2025. Super Rugby Pacific didnât have a naming sponsor last year, while Smartech replaces Buildcorp which had been the naming sponsor of Super Rugby womenâs competition from its formation in 2018 to last year.
Rugby Australia confirmed last week that a composite Indigenous-Pasifika team, replacing the defunct Melbourne Rebels, would face British and Irish Lions in a tour match at Melbourneâs Marvel Stadium on July 22.
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However, Kiss will not take the job until the middle of 2026, as current coach Joe Schmidt has extended his tenure.
Schmidt initially announced in February that he would depart the post at the end of the Rugby Championship before informing RA of his willingness to continue as Wallabies head coach for an additional year.
The new arrangement will see the former Ireland boss continue as coach before handing over to his former assistant after the Australian leg of the Nations Cup in 2026.
The âorderly transfer from Schmidt to Kissâ will happen between the Lions tour in July and the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
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Cornal Hendricks, a South African rugby player who made 12 appearances for the Springboks and was a star for his country at sevens, has died. He was 37.
Hendricks died on Thursday after a heart attack, SA Rugby said. He was diagnosed with a heart condition in 2015 and retired from professional rugby on medical advice, before making a comeback in 2019.
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The travel company has extended its naming-rights partnership of the Bledisloe Cup for another three years.
Coming on board in 2024, the Wallabiesâ tournament against New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina will continue to be known as âThe Flight Centre Rugby Championshipâ until the 2027 edition at least.
Additionally, FCB has increased its support of Rugby Australia as an official partner of the Wallabies for this yearâs British & Irish Lions Series.
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A host of Wallabies stars could be forced to give up their role on the national team if they are to accept a lucrative offer to join a new global breakaway league.
The R360 League is being described as a âgrand prixâ style franchise competition that will feature eight menâs teams alongside a professional womenâs league.
Competition organisers are hopeful to launch the inaugural fixture in 2026, with organisers looking to recruit several of the worldâs highest profile rugby stars.
According to Londonâs Daily Telegraph and the Times, the fixture would be similar to that of the Formula 1 with matches played across major global cities for 16 rounds.
The Crusaders have claimed their 13th Super Rugby title, beating the Chiefs 16-12 in the final at Christchurch. The Crusaders are 7 out of 7 in the Super Rugby finals in Christchurch, while the Chiefs became the second team in competition history (after the Lions in 2016-2018) to lose three consecutive finals.
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