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Ten months after David Nucifora “challenged” his former national union to move towards a centralised system, The Roar can reveal Rugby Australia is preparing to announce an agreement in principle to work together with the five Super Rugby franchises to become more aligned.
For the past decade, centralisation has become a buzzword in Australian rugby after New Zealand Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union have reaped the benefits of moving to a centralised model.
It’s something Nucifora tried to usher through a decade ago, but failed to gain enough support from the states.
“I had my go at it,” Nucifora told The Roar last November.
“I tried to do my best to put in place certain things that I thought would work and there were other people that had different views.”
Australian rugby’s loss has been Ireland’s gain, with the Emerald Isle heading into the World Cup on top spot of World Rugby’s rankings.
While Andy Farrell’s men have an almighty tough task ahead of them, with Ireland to face Scotland, South Africa and Tonga in their pool before a likely match-up with either France or New Zealand in the quarter-finals, their consistency over the past five years has shown their strength.
In stark contrast, the plucky Wallabies have plummeted down the World Rugby rankings and been well outside the top two since their stunning run to the World Cup final in 2015.
Nucifora has all along encouraged Rugby Australia to adapt their model to become more centralised.
“I do. I do. My challenge to them back there is it is doable, it is achievable, they can do it. They’ve just got to start making some hard choices,” he said.
“I’m not saying for a moment that it would be identical to what we do here, but I think they definitely do because one of the rewards from it is financial efficiency.
“I think they’re desperately in need of that and then it becomes operational and performance orientated as well.”
Ever since Hamish McLennan walked through the doors at Moore Park, the RA chairman has sought to change the system.
(Photo by Oisin Keniry – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
While he previously wanted constitutional change, McLennan and new RA chief executive Phil Waugh are pushing the benefits of centralisation once again.
As one source said, “It’s an agreement to work together on a massive reform that will start to look at things like centralisation. That’s all.”
What that entails is yet to be ironed out, but the proposed position includes high-performance alignment regarding contracting and key coaching positions as well as strength and conditioning.
Waugh, it is understood, is also hoping to push other versions of centralisation including around the business.
“It’s a key platform of Waughy coming into play,” one rugby figure said.
“He’s taken it beyond players and high performance to which other parts of the business would be better off from being run from a holistic perspective.”
Some Super Rugby franchises however are not completely sold on the commercial aspects of the proposed plans.
Another source said, “We’re on a journey”.
No timeline is set in stone yet, but it’s thought it could still take another two years before some of the principles agreed to come into effect.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.