The pandemic forced billionaire magnate Andrew Forrest to pull the pin on the first full season of Global Rapid Rugby, while Super Rugby's cancellation and international travel bans forced RA to conjure a broader solution to a proposed intra-conference competition including Japan's Sunwolves. Rugby Australia announced on Friday evening that, while specific details were still being worked through, a home-and-away round-robin tournament would begin on April 3. Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle speaks to media in Sydney. Credit:Getty In a statement, RA boss Raelene Castle said: "There are still some elements to work through as a group but we are extremely confident that we will deliver a meaningful product for the remainder of the season for fans and broadcasters. "We have agreed on the principles of proceeding down the path of a domestic solution in Australia which will see our teams compete against each other in a round-robin format from April through June, followed by a yet-to-be-determined finals series format.

"In what has been a challenging time for everyone in our sport, we have seen the rugby bodies in Australia come together to put their full weight behind finding a way for our game to continue in 2020. "While our focus has been on developing a competition model that will enable us to meet our commitments to fans and broadcasters, careful attention has also been given to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the welfare of our players, support staff and match officials under the new proposed model." The Sunwolves won't be involved, meaning the Japanese franchise will cease to exist after already being told they were going to be booted out of Super Rugby at the end of the season. The new Australian competition is set to run over 10 weeks, with teams playing four home matches and four away matches to go with two byes each. Teams will try to keep as many existing ground bookings as possible, while all sides are likely to start on zero points.

However, clubs are acutely aware that one positive case of COVID-19 would almost certainly force the competition to be cancelled. Loading Meanwhile, rugby sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that SANZAAR is yet to make a final decision on whether Super Rugby finals could still be played later in the year. A decision to play Super Rugby finals will likely need to be made by the middle of May. There are multiple options for formats and locations due to uncertainty around which countries will still have travel bans or other restrictions.

Working out who qualifies for finals is still being discussed as SANZAAR will need to take into account results from the opening seven rounds of Super Rugby along with results from domestic games in each country, provided they go ahead as planned. A potential option could give the three current conference leaders automatic entry and then pick the best five performers based on both Super Rugby and domestic competitions form. When Super Rugby was shut down last Sunday, the ACT Brumbies were clear leaders in Australia's conference with 23 points, ahead of the Melbourne Rebels (13), Queensland Reds (13) and Waratahs (5). However, there could be complications due to the fact not every team has faced the same opponents. If Super Rugby finals cannot go ahead, Australia will want to have finals of their own but a format will need to be agreed upon.