The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Waratahs CEO seeking more clout for provincial sides

Waratahs fans. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
28th November, 2016
17

NSW Waratahs CEO Andrew Hore is looking for Australian Super Rugby squads to be given a greater say in the running of Australian rugby.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Hore said the ARU should stop looking to the Wallabies as their only source of profit, saying the country’s Super Rugby sides could provide a welcome windfall for rugby in Australia – but only if they are given more say in the way the game is administered.

“I think our union is still looking at it as international rugby being the be-all and end-all, where I think the rest of the world has moved on a bit in their mentality,” Hore said.

“They know we can get money in to feed our game through professional rugby and also through the international game. I think there’s an opportunity there for us to collaborate far more effectively and look at our governance model – we’ve said this quite openly – to make sure that we can continue to grow the competition.”

Hore’s comments come ahead of a ten-year review into Super Rugby being finalised, the date of which is set for next month.

Under the current governance model, the ARU provides funding to each Super Rugby club thanks to the income generated by the organisation’s broadcast deal. The clubs, however, are not given any kind of position on the SANZAAR executive committee.

Instead, it is up to SANZAAR’s four member nations, whose chairmen are on the executive committee, to make decisions on behalf of their provincial sides.

Hore, who ran Welsh club the Ospreys before taking charge of the Waratahs, said SANZAAR and the ARU should look to Europeans leagues like England’s Premiership, France’s Top 14 and the Pro12, which covers provincial rugby in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy.

Advertisement

“In France, the clubs basically run the competition and the union stays out of their affairs and vice versa. In England it’s closer, they have a pretty solid commercial agreement between the two parties and although the relationship is tense, by and large it works,” he said.

“The Pro12 are a little bit different again. On their board they have one club/provincial representative, representing the provinces or regions of the country, and they have one union representative. Between the parties, they’re able to figure out what is what.”

England’s Premiership has seen a surge in their salary cap in the past four years, and European broadcasters pay a premium price for the rights to southern hemisphere competitions like Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship.

And while Super Rugby clubs across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are all struggling financially, Hore believes they will be able to match the fiscal fortunes of their European counterparts.

“We’re not that far off the money at the moment, with regard to the number of games played and the revenue we generate, but the simple fact is they have a lot more content over there and they’re working a lot closer together with the unions.”

close