Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Andrew Slack fears for the worst when the Super Rugby competition is expanded to include a Melbourne-based franchise next year.
"Let's overlook Supers 6 and 10 for the time being, and concentrate on 12 and 14.
"Over the 14 years those two tournaments have been in existence, Australia's provincial teams have hardly created major waves. The Brumbies have been far and away the most successful - indeed the only successful ones if you count holding up the trophy at the end of the show as the one meaningful yardstick.
"Only twice have two Australian teams made the semifinals in the same season and the most recent of those was eight years ago - a veritable generation in rugby terms. So, emboldened by such unflattering statistical momentum, we've decided to catapult another Australian team into the 2011 Super 15. "Premature" is the word that comes to mind."
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