The ARU is poised to announce the culling of one Australian franchise this week after SANZAR reportedly agreed to return Super Rugby to a 15-team format. Either the Melbourne Rebels or Western Force will be scrapped.
The 15-team formula was successful because of the intensity of fast, quality rugby. Super Rugby was then expanded significantly to cater for Japanese and Argentine franchises, which in my opinion resulted in a reduced intensity and quality of rugby.
On the one hand the Super 18s met the objective of growing rugby, but on the other hand it weakened the standard of that rugby. This coupled with an overkill of local derbies resulted in falling spectator numbers and television audiences.
The uncertainty and lack of professionalism in the decision–making process is not only impacting on the two clubs but on rugby around the country.
Senior management has belatedly identified that there is a lack of appropriate funding at the grass roots level, fundamental to the growth of the code.
Apparently, the need to channel more money into junior rugby has, in part, influenced the decision to cut one team from the conference. This action may improve the financial condition of the ARU, but the downside could be the irreversible loss of the rugby footprint in Western Australia or Victoria.
If financial circumstances dictate the culling of a team, one would hope that all refinancing and restructuring options have been considered before culling occurs.
Another consideration is that a four team Super Rugby conference will produce a more competitive conference and in turn improve Wallaby depth and quality. That remains to be seen, as there are other factors at play.
Australian Super Rugby teams have become the whipping boys of the New Zealand teams in particular, with an ever-widening gulf in skill levels and fitness.
In New Zealand much the same number of players as Australia has vie for a position in fewer teams. Hence the importance of having good skill levels and a very high standard of fitness.
Australian rugby’s unique problem is that it competes with three other codes of football and consequently will always struggle to attract numbers and quality. Skill levels need to be improved at the grass-roots level.
This inherently means increasing the competition for places in a team. To achieve this the number of junior clubs may need to be reduced.
Australian Under20s performance at the annual world championships since 2008 peaked at second in 2010 and has been on the crest of a slump ever since. Australia averages fifth over the nine years the tournament has been played.
New Zealand and England have dominated Under 20s tournaments since inception and it is not a coincidence that currently they are the top two senior teams in the world.
With daylight third it is very unlikely that hierarchy will change soon. We need to understand why Australia is not doing better at this level.
All avenues of finding a successful long-term strategy must be explored.
Consideration should be given to the following:
1 The ARU needs to channel more funds into junior rugby. Merging junior clubs within districts would have the result of driving funding further.
It would definitely lead to increased competition for team positions which will drive better skill levels and better quality rugby.
2 The international record of our Under 20s is not acceptable. Appoint appropriate people to review and develop a strategy to make our Under 20s more competitive on the world stage.
3 Super rugby academies should develop Under 18 and 19 teams to strengthen the depth of junior rugby at the elite level.
4 It is time for new thinking, direction and importantly leadership in the ARU.
All of the above strategies involve funding. The ARU must get the sponsorship base and funding priorities right.
Reducing the number of franchises is not necessarily a positive move.
JonP
Guest
It is a good time to collect and cellar wine while waiting for our next Bledisloe Cup win because it will be 20 years plus. Penfolds Grange good be the go with a few cartons squared away in the cellar.
JonP
Guest
I agree, Rugby WA should annoy the ARU with legal action taking place in Perth instead of Sydney. They will have to fly all their lawyers over to defend themselves whilst we've got McCusker QC ex Governor of WA doing it for free as he's an ex rugby player. ARU also want another meeting with Rugby WA, I would make them back to Perth for it as they've caused this whole mess. I hope WA Rugby bleed them dry from legal fees. https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-union/former-wa-governor-malcolm-mccusker-takes-up-forces-legal-fight-ng-b88451017z There is also a conflict of interest with ARU executives having links to Brumbies and Rebels. https://thewest.com.au/sport/aru-execs-links-to-melbourne-rebels-questioned-by-former-western-force-ceo-peter-omeara-ng-b88449310z
Bugaluggs
Guest
If the Rebels go down, I hope they go out in a blaze of glory and pull the 'Slapshot' style ending. Go down swinging, particularly against NZ sides. A bounty on all All Black players heads. As Reggie Dunlop said, "let them know your there!"
Rt
Guest
Apart from membership to the ANC it appears we are in furious agreement.
Bugaluggs
Guest
Funny, the biggest sporting league out of all sports, the NFL is on free to air tv. So you might want to do a little bit of research there. A little more local, do you reckon cricket would be that big if it was not on free to air. Just look at how poor the interest in tours that are on only on pay tv to see the difference. One thing Train man, you gotta learn to crawl as a sporting league before you can run and ask for big coin. Super Rugger is kaput, it will limp on for a while yet, but it is the sick man of world sporting leagues. It will go the same way the WLAF, which tried the same nonsense back in the 1990s with American gridiron playing in Europe and North America. On the other hand the AFL which is on free to air in Sydney will continue to grow exponentially in NSW and QLD.
BeastieBoy
Guest
All the above has been said many times before over a number of years. The ARU are just now telling us what we want to hear so we will leave them alone. The ARU was warned that the clubs and juniors were dying. They were told with a professionally forecasted model that the 18 teams wouldn't work. They now want to sacrifice an Australian Team for a Japanese one. Team ARU are not up to it and will not defend us tooth and nail. We need new blood with fresh ideas who will listen. We need them now. Cull the ARU not the Western Force.
piru
Roar Rookie
So have the Rebels - and we're better looking
Nick
Guest
I agree with the article totally and would not cut a team. The innovation in rugby has been coming from the Brumbies then subsequently the Force and Rebels. The Reds and Tahs are stuck in an old fashion approach. Like any culture/business that must change the leadership often comes from the fringe unfortunate here the centre is trying to consume the fringe to kill everyone. I would have knuckled down and worked hard til 2020 and then if it was not working consider all options. The point I was making earlier is that there has been a lot of positive commentary about the Force, one of my favourute teams and I wanted to ensure it is understood that there has been a fundamental shift in Melbourne with the rugby culture as a result of the Rebels and outcomes are being delivered. It does not hurt for the Reds and Tahs to loss so that they can learn how to win. Its more an attitude and expertise issue. Don't cut a team and lets hope the South Africans can't agree ... must renew by ANC membership!
Robert
Guest
The force have been useless since they have been there, time for them to face the facts and go away already
garryowen
Guest
It's pretty obvious there has been some skulduggery going on at Head Office level as one finds out more about this mess about kicking out one of the present Super ARU teams and its a pity that ROAR have not printed West Australian articles [yesterday and today's] about the mess. To get the truth an immediate open inquiry should be conducted by a group or a QC that is not connected to the present committee and he or they should look at the books and all committee notes. In today's article it is suggested that Clarke, now of the ARU office, who was former chief of the Brumbies and the Rebels has been at the forefront of the negotiations which is no wonder the Force were picked to be kicked out.The inquiry should show how much preferential treatment and money has been made available to "other teams".and where it came from and explain why money hasn't been available for the grassroots.
Rt
Guest
Hi Nick that's very good for the Rebels but I fear you are falling into the trap set by the ARU of setting one province against another. I think the gist of this article and the overwhelming view of most on this site is that is the game is run better then their should be no reason to cut a team. We can all say go rebels or tahs or reds etc and remain partisan but together we can say go Australian rugby. That focus, is in my view, sadly missing.
Nick
Guest
Rebels Siliva Siliva (Endeavour Hills rugby club), Jordon Usese (St Kevins College), Rob Leota (Northern Rugby Club), Sione Tuipulotu (St Kevins College), Fereti Saaga (Melb Grammar School) and Sefa Naivalu (Box Hill RC) all developed from the Vic community rugby. The Rebel U20 side played in last years final and had 6 in the national team. This year they again bet the Force and Brumbies and lost at full time to the Tahs. All locally develop players. They have 9 players in the national squad which is more than the Brumbies and Force combined. The Force only have 1. The Rebel U18 are also doing very well and they bet QLD 1 last year so the development pipeline has become very impressive. Neither WA or ACT can match this progress. Go Rebels
Train Without A Station
Guest
Because rugby is a professional sport. You pay to get the best players to win and the best players to get media coverage. Amateur thinking is not the future.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Spot on. The current board has probably done more for equalisation of states than the previous board for example. But an equal share of nothing is still nothing.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Commit to just getting more kids playing. That brings in more fans. That brings in more money. Then you can worry about spending money on coaching when you've got more players that are under-utilised due to lack of coaching.
sheek
Roar Guru
Congratulations Russell, On your first article for The Roar. A good effort.
Stu B
Guest
Congratulations ARU,a 14 year debacle and no clear air in sight,Will have to make sure I live to at least 85 to see the Bledisloe returned.Honestly I believe Bill is a good bloke but as commander in chief is away way out of his depth. The Kiwis haven't had to fight off other codes as they took action and made moves that nullified those codes by being aware.Rugby union is our only true international team game and we have played it beautifully in the past but we just have not kept up to speed.The depth is no longer behind the Wallabies,our children do not know who we are.May I suggest that Bill take out a ten year mortgage and spend it on our children and bring them up to speed.Results are grand but the health of the game is also very important.
piru
Roar Rookie
*100 years
waxhead
Guest
Russell thanks for at least making 4 positive suggestions but.................it's not enough imo Aust Rugby needs a full strategic review and detailed re-development plan plus sacking of the current ARU board. Bring in a new management regime and rebuild from ground up with new comprehensive strategic plan. And............the decisions on Super Comp have already been made by SANSAR and ARU - now time to move on and make the best of it. Re-visiting past decisions is pointless.
davSA
Guest
I so agree with you Russell . In the case of SA and I am including Australia here , have the respective Unions looked at their own financial austerity measures , cutting costs , eliminating duplication , reducing unnecessary staff and other hangers on.etc before crying out that funding is an issue.? In SA,s case answer No ! Cricket SA post apartheid faced a dilemma , in order to grow the game and legitimize it as historically because of most South Africans being excluded there was a strong element of antagonism towards the game. ... They made a huge effort , taking the game to all sectors of society . I don't have the time to go into their major programmes here but the success was phenomenal. Cricket is the fastest growing sport in SA and is free of the political baggage that rugby carries. The important thing is that due to these progressive policies the sponsors are lining up to get their logos and brand involved in the game. Conversely rugby which has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century still battles with legitimacy to this day . They also are struggling enormously with sponsorships and have recently lost 2 major anchor sponsors. SARU blames the economic climate but why do big sports like soccer and cricket have no such problems. They in fact are spoilt for choice. As an added bonus the cricket team is highly rated and ranked in World cricket and needs no quota system as it truly is beginning to represent the countries diversity . Sponsors here love it. Point is as you are alluding to the ARU getting its act together at grassroots and developmental and marketing level as well as financially as a solution to the Superugby dilemma , exactly the same applies to SA . Cutting teams does not address these issues at all.