Melbourne Appointed as 15th Super Rugby Team

Melbourne will play in an expanded Super 15 competition from 2011 after the new franchise was given approval by SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby).
Melbourne's entry to the competition was approved by a SANZAR panel who had been considering rival applications after the SANZAR Executive Committee had been unable to make a unanimous decision in October.
The panel, comprising former Rugby World Cup-winning captain David Kirk and retired New Zealand High Court Judge, the Hon Barry Paterson QC, said Melbourne provided greater commercial benefit to SANZAR than the Southern Kings, from Eastern Cape Province.
The 15th Super Rugby team will play in the Australian Conference under the new Super Rugby competition format from 2011, playing both home and away against the other four Australian Conference teams. The local derby aspect of matches in Australia, an important issue for generating attendances and broadcasting value, was seen as important by the SANZAR Panel.
As of 2011 there will be 40 Super Rugby matches (excluding finals) played in Australia each season as opposed to 26 under the current Super 14 structure.
Overall, Super 15 will comprise five teams from each of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) President Gary Gray said the decision would provide a huge boost to rugby in Victoria with a Super rugby team providing a direct pathway to top level rugby for the first time, stating "this is the greatest opportunity for Victorian and Australian rugby to further develop, so many people have wanted this and have now been rewarded."
Gray said the Victorian rugby community was strong enough to support the team, which he expected would be competitive from the start.
Melbourneâs success comes after it was overlooked in 2004 when the ARU opted to place its fourth Super rugby team in Perth, giving birth to the Western Force when the competition was expanded to the Super 14 in 2006.
Melbourne had been the favourite to secure the Super 15 franchise, given that the team would play within the Australian conference when the competition was revamped. However, South Africa had pushed heavily for the Southern Kings forcing the decision into arbitration.
Speaking after the announcement, Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Managing Director and Chief Executive John OâNeill stated âMelbourne has an extraordinary capacity for sport and we can now deliver them a Super Rugby side they can embrace and support in an established competition of genuine international standing.
âSuper Rugby is the most prestigious tournament of its kind in our game and it will now reach into Melbourne, with a team playing out of the new state-of-the-art purpose-built Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
âFor Australian Rugby as a whole this also ensures our national footprint at the highest levels continues to expand with Super Rugby teams in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne.�?
The ARU will now determine an ownership structure for the team which is to be aligned with the VRU.