Singapore and Japan were yesterday confirmed as the two territories bidding for Super rugby's 18th franchise licence when the tournament expands in 2016.
South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby (Sanzar) CEO Greg Peters confirmed that Asia would host the 20-year-old series's newest franchise .
"Asia is a region that has been the focus of considerable investment by the International Rugby Board in recent years and is a strategically sound location for the evolution of Super rugby," he said.
"We were happy with the number of responses received. However, the two standout expressions of interest that were most attractive to the Sanzar unions were received from Japan and Singapore.
"Each bid has the support of the respective national unions and includes other interested parties that will provide commercial and business support required for a venture of this nature."
Last week current Japan coach and former Wallaby mentor Eddie Jones backed the Japanese bid.
IRB CEO Brett Gosper holds a similar view to Jones and urged Sanzar to pick a Japanese franchise as its 18th Super rugby club.
The 2019 World Cup will be played in Japan, which has an established club competition and is increasingly attracting high-profile players such as Wallaby George Smith and Springboks like Fourie du Preez and Schalk Burger.
The Asian team will play in the South African conference called "Africa 2", and a team from Argentina will play in "Africa 1".
From 2016 Super rugby will have 135 regular-season games, compared with 120. But each side will play 15 games instead of 16.
The play-offs will have five teams from the Australasian group and three from the South Africa pool qualifying for the quarterfinals.
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