The next edition of Super Rugby Aotearoa will not feature a Pasifika team.
As reported by Newshub last month, NZ Rugby has announced that the tournament will return in 2021 with the same five-team, two-round format, a final to determine the winner, as well as the possibility of a trans-Tasman crossover fixture, where the NZ champions take on the Super Rugby Australia champions.
NZ Rugby had expressed interest in adding a Pacific Islands-based team and received bids from several parties eager to fill such a role.
Among those were Asia Pacific Dragons and Kanaloa Hawaii, which is backed by former All Blacks Jerome Kaino and Joe Rokocoko.
Although those bids were explored, NZ Rugby says an agreement was ultimately unable to be reached, claiming none were ready to be added for next season.
But it's still looking at options for 2022, when it intends to add a minimum of three new teams.
The organisation has a shortlist of four potential franchises, which includes an Auckland or Wellington-based Pasifika team, Fijian Drua, Australia's Western Force, and a Bay of Plenty-based South China Lions team, which may also play in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
NZ Rugby chairman Brent Impey says: "There's been a lot of speculation around our keenness to include a Pasifika team in Super Rugby and we're still committed to getting that across the line at some point, but the board believes that we must get this right."
Australia has also been invited to enter a team from 2022, but have so far chosen not to put forward an expression of interest.
NZ Rugby will make a decision by November 30 on which teams will join Super Rugby Aotearoa from 2022.
"After the success of the 2020 competition, it really became a no-brainer that we'd do something similar again," says Impey.
The revamped competition was widely credited with breathing life back into Super Rugby, producing some classic encounters in front of jam-packed stadiums across the country.
Afternoon kick-off times will remain, while other "fan innovations" will also be added, Impey confirms.
