South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby (SANZAAR), the governing body for Super Rugby, says South African teams are not threatening to leave the competition.
This after Wales Online, a digital news site in the United Kingdom, claims the Sharks will join the Europe-based Pro14 next year.
But SANZAAR says all of the Super Rugby member unions are committed to the future.
The reports suggest the Sharks will join the Cheetahs and the Kings in the Pro14 next season, and that the Lions and the Stormers will follow the following season. However SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos says that’s not true.
He says there’s been no talk of partners withdrawing during the review process, although he says both expanding and contracting is being discussed in Super Rugby’s future.
He says expanding into new markets is also a possibility, in what he describes as their current blue sky thinking. The suggestion is that South African teams are unhappy with a competition that is played across such extensive time zones.
