SANZAAR boss says criticism of Australian teams 'harsh' and backs them to fight SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos, left, has labelled criticism directed at struggling Australian Super Rugby teams as "harsh" and says he is pleased with the way the new competition structure has played out during the first half of the season. With Australian teams sitting eighth, ninth, 11th, 14th and 17th on the Super Rugby ladder out of 18 teams, on pure points alone, there have been concerns as to whether Australia has the depth required to field five teams. 
Although Super Rugby's expansion from 15 to 18 teams this year did not include any new Australian franchises, Marinos has defended the performance of Australian sides. "The criticism has probably been a little bit harsh," Marinos said. "It has been quite a disappointing season - there's been a whole lot of stuff off the field that has been impacting some of the on-field aspects.
One thing we do know is the Australian teams never give up. The Rebels, Waratahs and the Brumbies are in a really good position still ... and I'm sure that they will pull themselves through. In every season that we've had of Super Rugby since its inception, the teams do go through a bit of a slump at some stage but what we can't forget is the national team has been performing really, really well." Tom Decent