Ever since the Wallabies surrendered the Bledisloe Cup to the All Blacks in 2003, Australian rugby has lurched from one crisis to another, either on the field or off the field. Or both. The game seems to be stuck in perpetual crisis.
The current disaster follows the Wallabies’ failed World Cup campaign in Japan, which has led to the departure of coach Michael Cheika, put enormous pressure on Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle and chairman Cameron Clyne, and pushed the game towards an uncertain future.
RA has ordered an obligatory review into the World Cup, but this latest crisis has been unfolding for at least 15 years, perhaps longer. Australian rugby will never achieve sustainable, long-term success until it fixes the key problem that is holding the game back in this country – the dysfunctional relationship between RA and the Super Rugby franchises.
It is a relationship that has been characterised by mistrust and acrimony. The early success of Australian rugby following the advent of the professional era in the mid-1990s camouflaged the divisions within the game. In one brief, shining era the Wallabies held the Bledisloe Cup for five years in a row, won the 1999 World Cup and defeated the British & Irish Lions in 2001, while the Brumbies lifted the Super Rugby title in 2001 and 2004. All of this was accomplished despite a lack of unity of purpose between RA and the Super Rugby franchises.
Since then, there have been occasional highlights such as the titles won by the Queensland Reds (2011) and NSW Waratahs (2014) and the Wallabies winning the Tri Nations (2011) and Rugby Championship (2015). But that success has not been able to be sustained and Australian rugby has been unable to maintain any momentum at national or provincial level, undermined by competing agendas.
As a member of Sanzaar, RA co-owns and administers the Super Rugby competition. The competition’s four Australian franchises – the Brumbies, Rebels, Reds and Waratahs – are invited to participate and do not have any formal say in the its running. Their main source of income is broadcast revenue distributed by RA, but they operate their own programs independently of the governing body.
The major source of friction between the two is the use of the game’s main asset – the players. In the beginning there were clear demarcation lines. The franchises ran their own show during Super Rugby season and RA was in charge during the international calendar, but this simplistic approach would never last.
Wallaby coaches became increasingly frustrated by players arriving at national training camp carrying injuries that should have been treated during Super Rugby. Likewise, domestic coaches would often have to nurse players back into action after national duty, which always ended with a demanding spring tour of Europe in November. The Wallabies and the franchises acted in their own best interests rather than the overall best interests of the professional arm of the game and that served no one.
In 2012 former RA chief-executive John O’Neill and deputy CEO Matt Carroll presented the board with a plan to adopt New Zealand’s centralised system of administration to create greater collaboration between the national and provincial unions. The plan was rejected and the O’Neill-Carroll leadership team soon departed, but RA appears to be reconsidering the merits of the New Zealand system.
This year RA persuaded the Super franchises to follow New Zealand’s practice of resting Test players during the domestic season to help to prepare them for the World Cup – a sacrifice for the greater good of the game.
But towards the end of the season Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson had not rested several key Wallabies. If the Waratahs reached the playoffs Gibson would have found himself in the unenviable situation of having to leave out some of his best players for a quarter-final or renege on the agreement with RA.
It was left to NSW’s goodwill as to whether they would rest players or not. In the end the Waratahs failed to reach the playoffs so it became a moot point, but it highlighted the lack of formal co-operation with the national union.
It is perhaps understandable why at times RA has adopted a patronising attitude towards the Super franchises. Whenever the franchises find themselves in financial difficulty it is always RA who rescues them. Over the years RA has helped to bail out the Waratahs, Reds, Rebels and Western Force. But not anymore.
RA drew a line in the sand when the Force asked for financial assistance, requiring the Perth-based franchise to enter into an alliance with the national union, which purchased the WA team’s intellectual property. It was this move that enabled RA to axe the Force from Super Rugby in 2017 after Sanzaar decided to reduce the number of teams in the competition. Little wonder that when RA subsequently approached the Brumbies to enter into an alliance, the Canberra-based franchise refused.
The axing of the Force, while supported by the other Super Rugby teams, has done little to restore trust between the provincial unions and RA. Its ambitious plans to expand to Perth (2005) and Melbourne (2011) had a detrimental effect on the three foundation franchises – the Brumbies, Reds and Waratahs – spreading the pool of player talent wafer thin at a time when there was a mass exodus of Australian players to overseas clubs in Europe and Japan.
One of the reasons for expansion was to increase the revenue generated by broadcast deals, but New Zealand has managed to increase its broadcast revenue without adding to their five original Super Rugby franchises.
While RA has managed to retain most of the players required for the Wallabies, the weakening of the Super Rugby teams has had an adverse effect on the national team. An Australian team has not won the title for five years, while only one has managed to reach the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, which does not help to prepare the Wallabies for Test rugby.
Australia’s lack of involvement in the playoffs has been reflected in the Wallabies’ poor performance over the last four years, but there is a sense of powerlessness at Super Rugby level, which has led to conversations about breaking away from RA.
RA is poised to sign a new Wallabies coach, reportedly New Zealander Dave Rennie, and perhaps Australia will enjoy another brief period of success. But the key to long-term, sustainable success is RA and the Super Rugby franchises developing a symbiotic relationship which is mutually beneficial to all parties.
Otherwise, the game runs the risk of remaining in a state of constant crisis.
