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Organisers of a proposed Twenty20-style rugby competition have vowed to continue with their plans to stage the tournament despite failing to attract the support of SANZAR.

International Super Rugby, the brainchild of former Springbok Rassie Erasmus and South African lawyer Frikkie Erasmus, has been styled on cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL) with eight privately owned franchises competing for a lucrative cash prize.

The format, set to debut in January 2012, would see matches with two 20-minute halves and amended rules to discourage kicking.

The promoters recently met with officials of SANZAR, the umbrella body representing the national unions of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, to outline their plans but failed to secure their backing with a statement citing an “overwhelmingly negative” response from Super Rugby stakeholders.

However, speaking to ESPN Scrum, Frikkie Erasmus has dismissed the SANZAR rejection, insisting that the presentation was a mere courtesy and its approval for the tournament was not required as it would feature, "a different code of rugby which does not fall under the jurisdiction of SANZAR”.

"It was clear to me that they felt threatened by our format and were not supportive of the idea," Erasmus said of his meetings with Australian Rugby Union chief John O'Neill and his New Zealand counterpart Steve Tew that followed an earlier meeting with South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins.

"It therefore came as no surprise when they decided not to support it. As explained to them when I met with them, it was out of courtesy and not because their consents are required. It is a different code of rugby which does not fall under the jurisdiction of SANZAR or the IRB [International Rugby Board].

"We will continue with our plans to host the tournament. We believe that rugby needs an exciting format of this nature. Cricket's governing body had a problem initially with the IPL but in the end it succeeded and it is now a roaring success. There are just so many positives that it is a great pity that a few individuals want to deprive the players of this opportunity."