nded qualifying offers Monday.Calgary finished out of the playoffs this

Fiji coach John McKee believes the creation of a Pacific Islands Super Rugby franchise would eventually transform his side into heavyweights of the game.Plans are underway to establish a team comprising of players from Englands opponents at Twickenham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 2, plus Samoa and Tonga, that would compete in an expanded version of the southern hemisphere competition.By offering professional rugby in the Pacific Islands in the form of a franchise that would be operational in the early 2020s, it is hoped that the player drain to overseas clubs can be stemmed. Fiji played Australia at the 2015 Rugby World Cup England are among the nations profiting from Fijians opting for the greater riches available outside their homeland as they prepare to name Nathan Hughes and Semesa Rokoduguni in their starting XV for Saturdays second autumn international.It costs a lot of money to run a Super Rugby franchise and the economies in the Pacific are small economies, but it could become a reality in the next five to six years, McKee said. I certainly feel that the groundswell has changed a little bit and were realistically moving towards that now. Six months half price Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch Man Utd v Arsenal on Saturday and get the first six months half price From a national coaching perspective, to have our players playing in Super Rugby would be hugely beneficial for the national team because the windows fit in with the Test match windows.We would have access to a fair number of our squad at home over the whole 12 months. We would still select players from Europe, but the core of our team would be at home. With the talented athletes we have, if we had a Super Rugby team, we would be right up there. Fiji played Australia at the 2015 Rugby World Cup McKee views the emergence of Argentina since their exposure to Super Rugby as proof that Fiji might also power into rugbys top tier.If you look at Argentina, they have improved since joining Super Rugby, he said. They found it a bit tough with all the travel, but its enabled them to have the core of their players at home for the majority of the year. England vs Fiji November 19, 2016, 2:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass You can see how Argentinas style has changed - they are a much more dangerous team now and had a very successful World Cup, playing very un-Argentinean style rugby. That has come from playing Super Rugby.Fiji captain Akapusi Qera believes that having a Super Rugby franchise in the Pacific Islands would have a profound impact on their ability to halt the exodus and urged World Rugby to invest in the project. Fiji played Australia at the 2015 Rugby World Cup Having Super Rugby would bring professionalism to the islands and it would raise question marks on whether to come to Europe or not. If it happened, most of the boys would tend to stay rather than moving on, Qera said.If World Rugby wants the tier two nations to compete with the tier one nations, then they have to look into this investment in order to level the playing field.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price!Also See:Vunipola returns to trainingJones rings changes for FijiWell bore Fiji to deathHughes frank over financesNMD Online Australia .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Ultra Boost 2019 Australia .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/ultra-boost-shoes-australia/4.html . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. NMD R1 Primeknit Australia . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Ultra Boost Australia . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury.CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames quickly filled a couple of needs Friday by signing winger Troy Brouwer to a four-year deal worth a reported $4.5 million annually and giving a one-year deal to goaltender Chad Johnson for a reported $1.7 million.The six-foot-three, 213-pound Brouwer is a candidate to play on the top line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau after the Flames dealt Jiri Hudler to Florida in February. Brouwer, 30, won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. The Vancouver native had 18 goals and 21 assists in 82 games, plus eight goals and five assists in 20 playoff games, for the St. Louis Blues in 2015-16.Brouwer spent three seasons in Chicago and four in Washington before one season in St. Louis.I think he wanted to remain here, but he didnt have the ties to the community, Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. The offers were going to have to equal out for him to stay, and we were a littlee bit shy of that offer.ddddddddddddBrouwer has compiled 150 goals and 144 assists in 613 career NHL games.After bouncing unsuccessfully between four goaltenders in 2015-16, the Flames have picked up two new ones in as many weeks. Brian Elliott, acquired at the NHL draft from St. Louis for a second-round pick and a conditional draft pick, has a year remaining on contract that counts $2.5 million against the salary cap. Johnson appeared in a career-high 45 games for the Buffalo Sabres this past season.Calgary did not announce new contracts for star forwards and restricted free agents Monahan and Gaudreau, who were extended qualifying offers Monday.Calgary finished out of the playoffs this past season at 35-40-7. The Flames fired head coach Bob Hartley and replaced him with Glenn Gulutzan. ' ' '