The Melbourne Rebels today announced they are in talks with the Australian Rugby Union to develop a two-team rugby competition from 2014 called "Rugby Super 2's", which will pit the Melbourne Rebels against arch rivals the Western Force from Perth in a 16-round home and away competition.
On the eve of their 6th match against the Force the Rebels are currently 4-1 up and see this proposed competition as a great way to increase their win-loss ratio against the Force. The format would see the two teams take on each other 16 times over the season, each playing at their home ground 8 times. The top two teams will play off in the final, with the team with the most wins hosting the final at home.
Embattled Rebels head coach Damien Hill is enthusiastic about the plan, saying "The Force have become strong rivals in our first three years, giving us the majority of our wins in our short history and we would like to build on that". Hill added "the team have been doing it tough over the past few weeks, but we are building and I am confident we can succeed in this new format next year". "Making it into the top two is an achievable target for us, with a home final at AAMI Park a real possibility".
The new competition would run alongside the existing Super Rugby competition, which would still field 15 teams, with new Australian franchises taking the place of Melbourne and Perth. It is not yet known which teams would play in 2014, but it is hotly tipped that teams from Adelaide and Hobart would fill the holes left by the Rebels and Force.
The ARU did not return our calls and when Western Force head coach Michael Foley was asked to comment on the proposal, all we got from him was "shut up, don't be so bloody stupid!".
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