Super Rugby chiefs concerned over strength of new Japan team

Rightly so. as usual money is driving these expansion decisions and so the quality of the competition will suffer

From a purely rugby perspective, the original Super 12 was the best arrangement. 5 NZ, 4 SA and 3 AUS teams reflected the playing depth of the countries involved. Since then there has been two expansions.

Australia doesn't have the depth for 5 teams and has brought in a lot of NZers and South Africans to fill gaps. South Africa doesn't have the depth for 5 teams, and routinely has two teams at the bottom of the table as a result.

South Africa doesn't have the depth for another team given how many South Africans play overseas these days. Argentina should be okay , but heaven knows what side Japan will be able to put on the field.

However, if the Japan experiment does succeed, and a second Japanese side is formed, I would love to see this based in Kyushu, which is the real rugby heartland of Japan, rather than basing the team in Kansai.

(IMO)Whilst beating the South Africans in pool play has been a boon for one individual (Goromaru), the fickle Japanese public quickly jumped off the bandwagon as soon as the Brave Blossoms went back to regular top league preseason duty. If no professional players front up, then University players or even senior High School players will be drafted, great from the beginning but see above fickle comment...expect poor crowd turnouts and regular drubbings. Super Rugby in July in Japan? Better bring your best water boys... If another team is announced then as Akula mentioned, a Kyushu based team would be awesome, maybe Higashi Fukuoka would be the first choice!!

Why are they joining the Southern Hemisphere competition when they are not even in the Southern Hemisphere? They might as well join the six nations or form a league with the US and Canada.

The Japan team is playing in the SA conference where the quality isn't as high as the Aussie and NZ conferences, so they shouldn't be too much out of their depth