Melbourne named Contender for 15th Super Rugby Team

Melbourne has won endorsement from the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Board as Australiaâs sole contender for the 15th Super Rugby licence.
The popular provincial competition will expand from 14 teams to 15 in 2011 with the SANZAR joint venture to decide later this year on where the new side will be established.
While the 15th team will play in the Australian Conference as part of a revamped and extended Super Rugby format, interested parties in South Africa and New Zealand are also bidding to have the side based within their national boundaries.
The ARU said it wants to maximise its chances by nominating a single bid and agreed that Melbourne (which put forward three different expressions of interest) presented the best chance of winning.
Explaining the decision, ARU Managing Director and Chief Executive John OâNeill stated "at this stage in the evolution of Super rugby, we believe Melbourne has the best chance of success.
"We are in a three-nation race for the licence and we want the 15th team in Australia. So we need to focus our energy on what will be our most compelling bid."
"There are elements in each of the Melbourne expression of interests that ensure the sum of the parts will be extremely powerful. We intend to align these components in a sensible format of ownership."
There were seven Expressions of Interest initially lodged with the ARU â three from Melbourne, and one each from Western Sydney, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and NSW Country.
NSW Country withdrew from the race last week as ARU senior management travelled to each of the regions to discuss their ability to meet the SANZAR criteria for Super Rugby participation.
In finally settling on Melbourne, the ARU has also called on the three parties from Victoria who put forward separate Expressions of Interest to join forces to ensure Australiaâs prospects of securing the 15th Super Rugby licence are maximized.
âWe want to make sure the 15th team is in Australia; thus the ARU will facilitate the potential for a seamless and sensible amalgamation of those interested parties. It will surely put us in the best position possible,�? OâNeill added.
âThere are elements in each of the Melbourne EOIâs that ensure the sum of the parts will be extremely powerful. They offered a variety of advantages â from the proven ability to operate and finance a professional sporting franchise to delivering on crucial Community Rugby activities. We intend to align these components in a sensible format of ownership.
A new competition format â where five teams will play in an Australian Conference, five in a South African Conference and five in a New Zealand Conference â will offer the option of increasing those numbers to six or more per Conference at a later stage.
Other expansion options would also be available if teams outside the SANZAR nations were to be included in the competition.
âWe believe Western Sydney, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast all have great prospects for the future,�? OâNeill continued.
âAt this stage, though, Sunshine Coast does not have a stadium.
âGold Coast and Western Sydney certainly had strong applications and we are absolutely determined to grow the game in the western suburbs of Sydney where the junior numbers are strong and the population continues to increase.
âThis is not the end of the aspirations those regions have to be part of Super Rugby.
âItâs simply a matter of looking at where the game is now, how far the respective parties have gone down the path of preparing themselves for potential entry to the Super Rugby competition, and making a decision on the best contender.
ARU will now pass on its endorsement of Melbourne to SANZAR, with the joint venture to decide shortly about how many interested parties will be asked to make formal bids for the right to establish the 15th team.
A final decision from SANZAR on the successful bidder is expected in late October.