The identities of the two South African teams and one Australian team to be cut from Super Rugby were still unknown after South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby made the announcement yesterday that South Africa would lose two of their franchises.
Sources indicated last month that the Cheetahs and Southern Kings would be cast off from the South African Conference while the Melbourne Rebels are set to go from Australia.
But Sanzaar would not confirm the identities of the axed franchises.
SA Rugby CE Jurie Roux confirmed that the decision to reduce South Africa's Super Rugby participants from six to four had been unanimously accepted at executive level.
"The 18-team Super Rugby competition has not worked and we had to face up to that hard fact," Roux said.
"The integrity of the format and the lack of competitiveness in too many matches were major issues that needed addressing.
"From a South African rugby high-performance perspective, we've had to acknowledge that the dilution of talent and resources across six franchises has seriously affected our ability to compete across the board."
The tournament will now be split into three conferences of five teams each - New Zealand, Australia, (with the Sunwolves) and South Africa, (with Argentina's Jaguares).
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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