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Like sands through an hourglass, this is Rugby Australia

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Roar Rookie
7th May, 2020
23

This week there’s been another twist in the soap opera we call Rugby Australia.

We had the sudden resignation of Peter Wiggs from the RA board, reportedly after his bid to become chairman and install Matt Carroll as CEO failed on Monday night.

An interim CEO, Rob Clarke, has been appointed.

Rugby Australia’s continuing boardroom dramas bear serious resemblance to a 1980s American soap opera.

Already there have been rocks thrown at Clarke for his part in dropping Western Force from Super Rugby. Peter Wiggs must have completely misjudged the board’s mood in his reported bid for power. There are still many supporters of interim chairman Paul McLean, who would have seen Wiggs bid for chairman as unacceptable.

Rob Clarke

Rob Clarke (Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Maybe Wiggs was absent when Clarke’s appointment was discussed, because the new interim CEO Clarke is a respected rugby administrator, notwithstanding there are some who still hold a grudge for his axing of the Force. He’ll be more accepted by the rugby public. It will be interesting if he continues permanently with the job. Perhaps he can steady the ship enough for the game to start again and reduce some of the internal rifts.

The issue of TV coverage and network deals must be quickly but carefully sorted, as other codes are already on their way to resolving their problems. The FFA has received its full quarterly network payment, and rugby now needs to lock in something soon.

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Things must be done for the lovers of amateur rugby. I had a conversation with a coach looking to gain promotion to top-grade rugby, and he mentioned the six-figure sum required just to make it there. Unfortunately gone are the days of amateur football even at the club level. Costs are very high and require major sponsorship.

Briefly, I must comment on a 2019 World Cup interview with Michael Cheika before the Georgia game. He stated that the Wallabies had no tactical kicking game and that the rugby public didn’t like that kind of play. Good grief. No wonder things were as disjointed as they were. I don’t think the reporter could believe what he had heard. You would have been disappointed to hear that sort of casual attitude from a junior coach, let alone the top coach in the country.

New Zealand Rugby has set its plan to return soon with only domestic matches to be played. Sam Cane has talked of a Test match with the Wallabies later on in the year, which will be a real yardstick as to where our top-level game is.

As a final note, I saw another article about Quade Cooper, who really represents the enigma of Australian rugby. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes times tragic and always entertaining, he’s a personality and media figure the public loved.

If Rugby Australia can unlock the secrets of past success, big crowds will once again return to stadiums around Australia to watch winning rugby.

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