Fiji wants more Super Rugby

FIJI – Fiji’s Prime Minister has put his hand up for the country to be given another opportunity to host a Super Rugby game.

Frank Bainimarama’s comments come after his country hosted the first Super Rugby fixture in the Pacific on Saturday night, with the Chiefs defeating the Crusaders 23-13 at the ANZ stadium in Suva.

Bainimarama expressed pride at having hosted the clash between what he called such “impressive teams”.

He said Fiji was only one of eight nations to have hosted the competition and the first small island state to do so, meaning it was a major feat for the Pacific.

The prime minister said rugby was a major part of Fijian life and national unity and that was why they wanted to host another game of Super Rugby next year.

Bainimarama said Fiji had the facilities, capacity and passion to do it again.

Earlier the government said hosting the game would bring over US$9 million worth of economic benefits to the country.

Meanwhile, SANZAR has praised the strong support and competitiveness of rugby in the Pacific islands, saying they will not rule out their inclusion in a further Super Rugby expansion.

SANZAR boss Andy Marinos said the addition of a Pacific Islands team into the Super Rugby competition was a serious consideration and one that would be assessed thoroughly.

“SANZAR’s never deliberately ignored the Pacific islands,” Marinos told TVNZ.

“There’s always been a natural transfer of players into Australia and New Zealand and you are seeing a lot of those guys coming through the system and are playing on a regular basis.”

Marinos said he didn’t doubt the ability of a Pacific Islands team to perform competitively in the Super Rugby structure, saying they would certainly have a strong and competitive team and that would be an “attractive asset moving forward”.

- PNC sources