A Singaporean take on Super Rugby

SINGAPORE rugby could be poised to take off in a big way. Speculation is rife that the Republic is among the favourites to join the Super Rugby franchise in 2016. If it does, Singapore rugby stands to benefit hugely - as long as it does not get mired in disputes over its team's Singaporean-ness, as some other sports have. Neither should it get distracted from efforts to develop domestic rugby here.

The Singapore Rugby Union's (SRU) bid to join the franchise appears to have powered ahead of proposals from regional powerhouses Hong Kong and Japan on the back of the new Sports Hub and strong financial support. However, excitement over the prospect - no doubt shared by local Super Rugby Fantasy League players eager to draft their national team buddies into their squads - could lead to expectations of a purely "Singaporean" Super Rugby team, as opposed to what the SRU is actually proposing: an Asia-Pacific team based in Singapore.

Such parochial and nationalistic sentiment could easily gain traction - the first 10 results of a Google News search for "Singapore Super Rugby" mention the Asia-Pacific Dragons, the SRU's proposed team, only once. But if the team isn't going to be Singaporean, why base it here in the first place?