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Eddie Jones has thrown his weight behind Rugby Australia’s push for reform, saying the Wallabies need more support in developing players to keep up with the rise of rugby in the northern hemisphere.
The decision will see all male and female Waratahs players, including coaches and high-performance staff, as well as all commercial and operations staff, run out of RA’s office.
NSW Waratahs chief executive Paul Doorn informed stakeholders of the decision on Thursday.
The movement comes amid RA’s desire to move to a centralised system, with the governing body hoping to oversee all high-performance and commercial decisions.
Financial strain across the entire Australian rugby landscape, as well as the Wallabies’ falling on the world standings over the past two decades, which has come to a head over the past month in France in the World Cup, has only accelerated RA’s desire to usher through reform and look to align.
Rugby Australia is hoping to move to a centralised model. But it won’t be easy, according to Eddie Jones. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
The Waratahs, who have seen crowds plummet over the past decade, recognised the need for greater alignment.
However, the decision to hand over their intellectual property was made easier given they were on the brink of insolvency.
RA hopes that now that the first domino has fallen, others will follow. The Melbourne Rebels are likely the next to drop.
As it stands, all five Super Rugby franchises support in principle the need to come together and share high-performance property, including the Brumbies.
Indeed, the Brumbies have already said they would agree to an Irish-based model, where the national union runs the high-performance but the commercial property remains with the provincial union.
Even during the last Super Rugby season, the Brumbies rested several first-choice players for their penultimate round match as they adhered to the Wallabies’ desire to have players of national interest rested from one to two matches.
The decision backfired, with the Force toppling the Brumbies.
The Brumbies, as well as the Reds, have also agreed to central contracting.
But RA will need an injection of capital in the vicinity of $15 million to activate the model, The Roar understands.
The Brumbies are playing hard-ball with Rugby Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
The Brumbies feel that there is a serious lack of detail in RA’s plans to move to a centralised model and are being asked to simply “trust” the governing body.
Nor have they been given any assurances about their survival, as well as whether it is guaranteed the Brumbies won’t be relocated.
The franchise, which remains Australia’s most successful Super Rugby side, believes it is being led to the point of financial collapse.
The Brumbies also think RA is unlikely to be able to run their branch out of Sydney. It’s an aspect others agree with.
The Brumbies aren’t the only Super Rugby franchise with reservations either, with the Queensland Reds to hold onto their commercial assets under any possible deal. RA won’t stand in their way either.
Jones said he wasn’t surprised by the political tensions.
“That’s the history of Australian rugby,” Jones told reporters on Friday.
“Like it’s continually fighting, you know, we’re a state-based union that’s run by the states, the national union wants to assume more responsibility and when things were going well, no-one questioned that.
“But over the last period of time they haven’t been going so well and this tournament’s probably been the icing on the cake where it’s got to a stage where I think people, most people probably think there’s time for change. But it’s not going to go easy.”
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says Australian rugby would benefit from reform. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Before taking over from Dave Rennie, Jones made it clear that one of the conditions on him accepting the role is that the governing body ushers through its centralisation plans, The Roar understands.
He did so to ensure the Wallabies weren’t playing catch-up from a high-performance perspective every time they regrouped.
From a practical perspective, Jones wants the ability of the national union to help upskill players – and staff – on and off the field.
Jones said it was essential the changes came through to help the entire game.
“Well, I think that’s one of the key issues. We need to maximize the development of the players. At the end of the day, that’s the key to success and alignment of your resources, for a small country,” Jones said.
“Because Australia, if you look at the history of rugby, when we were amateur, we were probably ahead of the game because we had the influence of rugby league. We had the influence of AFL and our players were more professional than the rest of the world.”
Jones said he had been kept in the loop with RA regarding their progress and would “have a say in” what needed to occur.
“I know what’s going on and we need to get a better system of developing players,” he said.
“We need to develop better players and we need to develop a larger batch of better players and that only comes through changing the whole system.”
RA is currently on the hunt for a new high-performance director.
Jones said the role was vital in helping Australian rugby plan for “tomorrow”, with the Wallabies head coaching role about coaching “today”. “I’m not an administrator, I love being out on the pitch. I love the game. I don’t love politics. I’m not a politician at all. Never have been, never will be,” he said.
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.