By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY (Reuters) – The 24th season of Super Rugby gets underway this weekend promising 19 weeks of highly competitive action as the southern hemisphere along with Japan serve up an appetiser for Asia’s first staging of the Rugby World Cup. For most of the 500-odd professionals who will suit up for the matches to be played out across four continents, the focus will not only be on winning but also on earning a ticket to rugby’s showpiece tournament. For some, a spot at the World Cup is no more than a pipedream, for others it will be snatched away by loss of form or the cruel hand of injury. A rejig of some sort seems to be permanently on the drawing board at SANZAAR headquarters but there is relative stability in a second year with the same 15-team format and a contiguous season running from Friday’s opener to the final on July 6. As at the World Cup, more success for rugby powerhouse New Zealand looks like the safest prediction. The Super Rugby case is, if anything, stronger with the five New Zealand franchises having won 16 of the 23 titles since the southern hemisphere provincial competition… Read full this story
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