The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Force needed 'Twiggy' earlier according to ARU chairman

5th September, 2017
Advertisement
Cameron Clyne needs to get on the front foot with SANZAAR. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
5th September, 2017
167
1495 Reads

Australian rugby union chairman Cameron Clyne has declined to express an opinion on billionaire Andrew Forrest’s touted plan for a rebel competition.

But a “frustrated” Clyne questioned why RugbyWA didn’t ask Forrest for help earlier, saying there may have been a “far different outcome” to the Western Force being axed.

The Perth-based Force appear finished after the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a Rugby WA appeal aimed at preventing the ARU from culling them from the Super Rugby competition.

A defiant Forrest was again scathing in condemnation of the ARU an hour later and declared he would start a new “Indo-Pacific” competition including the Force, promising more details in coming days.

Clyne didn’t want to discuss the rebel competition or what if might mean for Force players’ contracts, which have been guaranteed by the ARU, if they stuck solid instead of transferring to other Australian Super Rugby clubs.

“I don’t have any view as to what happens if there is some sort of (rebel) competition,” said Clyne.

He looked forward to a Super Rugby team reduced from 18 teams to 15 next season, with four Australian teams instead of five positioning the country to improve its dismal on-field results in a competition format that would be more appealing to most fans.

Last month Forrest came forward with a reported offer of $50 million to save the Force after the ARU announced it had chosen to cull them and not the Melbourne Rebels.

Advertisement

I just don’t understand why RugbyWA didn’t contact Andrew Forrest in April,” Clyne said.

“One of the frustrating things here is there’s been a lot of opportunities for RugbyWA.

“Obviously we stepped in there and bailed them out 18 months, two years ago because no one else came forward.”

Clyne said the ARU asked RugbyWA for its best and final offer on August 2 before deciding whether to cut the Force or Rebels and RugbyWA didn’t come back with anything substantive.

“At that point in time, it was an inferior package to what Victoria put through and we had to make a decision, so we made that decision (to cut the Force),” he said.

Clyne said while he was very sympathetic to the rugby community in Western Australia, and particularly the Force players, the ARU had been vindicated twice by the courts.

Battling tears before reporters, Western Force veteran Matt Hodgson lashed the ARU for not contacting the players during the contracted process and offered to host Clyne and ARU CEO Bill Pulver for dinner on Friday, on the eve of the Test between the Wallabies in Springboks in Perth.

Advertisement

Clyne said contact with players had been restricted because of the legal proceedings but he would be happy to meet with Hodgson soon.

“We absolutely respect the contribution Matt has made to Australian rugby, and the Western Force in particular,” he said..

“We’d be more than happy to sit down and take him through some of the underlying rationale behind the decision”.

close