Months after Saudi investment was linked with the Springboks and Wallabies, private investment from the Middle East appears to be coming to the English Premiership.
Telegraph Sport revealed that associates of the Saudi sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), which took an 80 per cent stake of Premier League outfit Newcastle United, have held discussions about investment with Gloucester, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons.
The report adds that the group are seeking control of stadium naming rights and the establishment of a rugby academy in Saudi Arabia.
Under Rugby Football Union regulations, any private investment stake of less than 10 per cent does not require consent from the governing body.
It means the governing body would be powerless to stop the investment.
Leicester Tigers are one of four clubs that Saudi investment is looking at. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)
Thus far rugby union hasn’t had any investment from the PIF, but the financial struggles of clubs across the United Kingdom and other regions, including Australia, could see that change.
Three Premiership clubs went out of business in the space of 10 months during the 2022-23 season, while Down Under the Melbourne Rebels fell into voluntary administration on Monday.
The Daily Mail reported last year that the Springboks and Wallabies were approached about Saudi investment.
All Blacks to play Fiji in USA
The All Blacks are moving a home Test match overseas for the first time when they take on regional rivals Fiji at San Diego State’s Snapdragon Stadium.
The July 19 clash will be the first time New Zealand and the Flying Fijians have met at a neutral site, as well as Fiji’s inaugural visit to the United States.
The All Blacks have played several exhibition matches stateside down the years, including a 53-6 victory against the US at what was then known as San Diego Stadium on October 8, 1980.
That venue was replaced in 2022 by the 35,000-seat Snapdragon.
“It’s a massive step for New Zealand rugby, bringing a home Test over to the States,” said Ma’a Nonu, a former All Blacks star who recently re-signed with the San Diego Legion, a founding member of Major League Rugby.
Fijian great Waisale Serevi, a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame, said the match will be huge for his country.
“Giving Fiji the opportunity to play (New Zealand) on neutral ground, for a small country, is a blessing,” Serevi said.
“It’s an honour and a privilege for Fiji to be invited to be a part of the big Test coming up.”
The match will help promote the sport in the United States, which will host the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2031 and the women’s two years later.
“It’s been a long-held ambition … and part of our wider strategy to increase the visibility and understanding of rugby in North America and to build our brand presence ahead of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033,” New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson said in a statement.
“The All Blacks and Fiji share a deep connection to the game of rugby and to the Pacific region. … We want to deliver an event that will capture the imagination of sports fans across the United States and showcases the best qualities of our game.
“It promises to be a unique and entertaining afternoon of rugby and Pacific culture, and a great advertisement for the game.”
Scott Robertson’s first Test in charge of the All Blacks will be in Dunedin, before the three-time World Cup winners take on Fiji in San Diego. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
The San Diego match is one of 14 Tests the All Blacks will play in nine countries in their first season under new head coach Scott Robertson, whose first match in charge will be against England at Dunedin on July 6.
The two sides meet again at Auckland’s Eden Park on July 13 before New Zealand fly to San Diego to face Fiji.
“Playing England under the roof in Dunedin is a great start for us in a world-class stadium and then we go up to Auckland where we have a great record that we are really proud of,” Robertson said.
“We then fly off to San Diego, which is exciting in itself. The Fijians know their way around the world and they’ll come out from everywhere. I know a lot of Kiwis will make the trip as well.”
All Blacks’ 2024 test schedule:
July 6: v England (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin)
July 13: v England (Eden Park, Auckland)
July 20: v Fiji (SnapDragon Stadium, San Diego)
August 10: v Argentina (Sky Stadium, Wellington)
August 17: v Argentina (Eden Park, Auckland)
August 31: v South Africa (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
September 7: v South Africa (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
September 21: v Australia (Stadium Australia, Sydney)
September 28: v Australia (Sky Stadium, Wellington)
October 26: v Japan (Nissan Stadium, Yokohama)
November 2: v England (Twickenham, London)
November 9: v Ireland (venue TBC)
November 16: v France (venue TBC)
November 23: v Italy (venue TBC
England bad boy retires
Well-travelled former England, Wasps, Sale and Melbourne Rebels player Danny Cipriani has retired from professional rugby, calling his decision a “sobering but also freeing moment”.
The mercurial 16-cap England back had not played since 2022.
But the 36-year-old has now officially called time on a colourful career that included two spells at Wasps as well as stints at Melbourne Rebels, Sale, Gloucester and Bath.
“I haven’t played for a while, but in my mind I left it open,” Cipriani wrote on social media.
“Messaging my agent as I sit outside (coffee shop) Costa, I realised I don’t want to play again. Sobering but also freeing moment.”
Danny Cipriani has retired from rugby. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Cipriani made his England debut in 2008 with his last appearance coming against South Africa in 2018.
He joined the Rebels for the 2011 season, and scored the crucial penalty that earned the club their first-ever Super Rugby win, a 25-24 triumph over the ACT Brumbies.
There was no disputing Cipriani’s natural talent but off-pitch problems were a common theme of his career.
“Thank you to all the coaches I’ve had, taken lots away from each one of you,” Cipriani wrote.
“To the supporters who turned up and wore their heart on their sleeves, thank you for showing love throughout my career, special memories from all the fans of each team I played at.
“To all my team mates I played with, man I loved it, I know sometimes I could be relentless, we did have some fun out there though.
“Learnt so much throughout my career and when I reflect, I’m grateful for every moment.”
With AAP
FunBus
Roar Rookie
You can't afford them. You think Farrell, Edwards, Townsend, Galthie, O'Gara etc are queuing up to head to Australia? There aren't any Aussie coaches that I can think of in the Six Nations at the moment. In the club game there's McKellar at Leicester who has had a very mixed start.
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
I’m 70 also done Birdsville, Chile,Iceland.
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
Always wanted to do it and see the Great Australian Bight- where the Antarctic broke away from Australia. Met some good people, including a couple riding Posties to Brisbane.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Thats some hard days right there. Well done. Lifetime memories.
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
Just went with some mates. We trucked our bikes to Perth and took 14 days to get back to Brisbane. Stopped at some places for an extra night to explore the area, like the Flinders Ranges. Also we went to the Albany dawn service on Anzac Day so two nights there. Longest day was 700k and we left every morning at 7 am or earlier- to make sure we got into the next town before it was too dark,
Jacko
Roar Rookie
After the way SR treats new teams I think alot would be slow to jump in and take the abuse Force take or the Sunwolves did. Pathetic lies. Why do you lie so much?
Jacko
Roar Rookie
You are crazy.... You say NZR must raise more money but if they do anything out of the ordinary to do that exact thing you bag them for doing so. NZR would not be going to the USA if it wasnt financially viable to do so meaning they will be making more by going to USA than by hosting in NZ.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
It is WRs job. Thats why they are paying NZR money to have the test in the USA. The ABs have 3 x the Instagram followers, 8 x the FB followers and 13 x the Utube followers than Ireland does. Very wise of WR to utilise NZR world wide.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
NZRs money is garranteed Brendan. Selling a ticket is a bonus from a fund raising perspective but a sell-out would be great for the game.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Good story Brendan but its part of WRs desire to see tests from the top sides in the US before they have the WC in 2031. No doubt it will raise some much needed revenue along the way but yet again its up to NZR to promote rugby around the globe.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Thats an amazing ride KFTD. Yep Goats would have eaten your motorbike if you had gone too slow. Was that an organised ride with groups or just you and a few mates? Id be interested in it.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
You will find it was WR that did the 2 test T1 and 1 test T2. Not everything is NH. Argentina had there worse run at a WC since 2003 while in SR and they sacked their coach between the 15 and 19 WCs because they were doing so bad. Japan did worse this WC because they weren't playing at home with the best run of games to get out of the group. Japan failings are due to improvements in teams like Argentina. USA has more playing numbers than Argentina or Fiji along with Oz, Ireland, Italy and Wales. They have nearly 3 times the players of Scotland. What they don't have is access to different styles of rugby and access to top level professional setups like Uraugay, Chile and the Europeans teams. Its one thing putting a team in SRP, it's another thing having players training with teams like Saders. SR seems to be the only league obsessed with adding new teams to the league and helping is have them join SR, maybe develop in the USA by supporting MLR not looking to be in competition with it. Drua's purpose is to produce players to get OS contracts the same as SLAR/SRA and RESC so the Union can but more youngsters there. After the way SR treats new teams I think alot would be slow to jump in and take the abuse Force take or the Sunwolves did.
nroko
Roar Rookie
This Fiji vs ABs is to fill the calender for both teams as the NH teams want to lessen their load. Same for SA vs Portugal, and likely Australia vs Georgia (althought not confirmed). These are not blockbuster matches and won't fill stadiums. Yes the NZ public want to see more of ABs but they want to see them playing top opposition i.e. SA France Ire Eng etc.. France will play in NZ in '25, those games will be in NZ and will sell out easily. However most of NZ public consume ABs via tv, so playing in USA west coast Saturday night, sunday afternoon NZ/Fiji/Aus time is a favourable time + experiment for future opportunities i.e. super rugby. Ultimately USA rugby has to decide their roadmap to 2031. How they plan to be competitive. Since the inception of MLR, this hasn't correlated positively for USA national team. The Drua have been a success..similarly Jaguares were a success in terms of providing local players professional opportunities and translating in test arena. Sunwolves were not a success on the field but the cohesion helped the Japan national team in 2019 world cup. Sunwolves departure also resulted in declining Japan performance. So there is benefits of joining SRP if done right. USA will have no problems funding wise, they can get backers sponsors on board. The only problem is they don't have a pipeline of rugby talent that Fiji/Argentina have. Maybe that's where the MLR competition helps. The SRA is promising but may not align with USAs 2031 ambitions in terms of performance hit.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
I agree it's about growing the NZ brand but sure about growing the game. NZ aren't responsible for growing the game that's WR job but this claim any time NZ play in a T2 country or against a T2 country is growing game is always funny. NZR said that Nov to June wasnt enough time to organise a game in Fiji so they had to play it in the USA. Its about money pure and simple and let's not kid ourselves its about growing the game in the USA. SL did say there was loads of NZ fans around the world so there must be and they might get even more games closer to them in the future.
Jake Heke
Roar Rookie
That wasn't the case when the AB's played Ireland in Chicago back 2016. Far more black jerseys than green. No reason to think Fiji vs AB won't be a sellout too. Sure they'll get less gate revenue vs Eden park, but it's about growing the game and the All Blacks brand.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
Not England’s fault WR only want 2 tests which is why all the nations are playing 2, its part of getting the Nations League approved. Regarding a SR side playing is America that will be either a bad or terrible idea. MLR should be the only league in the USA. As it is SLAR is going to have team in the USA in the Raptors. Putting a SRP side on the East cost will either be in direct competition with Seattle or San Diego. If they have the LA Giltinis which might be the plan do you think the USA rugby will sign off on it. If its Hawaii you have to ask yourself why none of the richest leagues in the world have a professional team their (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB). If a club is playing in a country they need Union Approval to play in a WR sanctioned league. As USA rugby and Canada Rugby are part of SLAR/Super Rugby Americas they will approve teams. Not sure they will sanction a SRP team. 13 hour flights for teams and not sure the USA fan base will want to watch their team take 50pts drubbings every game. Can SRP afford to cover the costs of travel to the USA like the URC does (when Cheetahs and Kings joined Pro14 the European teams received £500k extra per year and travel covered). 6N a sides are playing A games against REC teams and are strengthen ties (such as the Black Lions in the Challenge Cup). Portugal are playing SA in SA, they aren’t moving the game overseas. NZ are playing 5 games at home do you think that locals will be happy with that. IF they do make more money from playing Fiji in the USA than Argentina in Wellington how long before they get moved. This year two games in Auckland, two in Wellington and one in Dunedin. None is Christchurch, none in Hamilton. I will be curious if they sell out the Argentina game in Eden Park as they should be, but its much bigger than the stadiums they normally play them in.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Masses go to Europe.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
In Europe tons are brought over: not retiring players.
nroko
Roar Rookie
Fiji playing in NZ is no longer a novelty with the Drua travelling playing 2-3 games every year in NZ. Sure Fiji vs ABs in NZ will get a decent crowd 30k. ABs going to Fiji will be big deal for Fiji but both parties may be financially worse off if not arranged properly. There is no point n ABs playing USA, they did 2 years and put plenty of points on them. Then people complain about that too. I'm sure the ABxv or NZ Maori will play against USA soon. The ABs v Fiji in USA is an experiment in a new time zone where potentially a new Super Rugby franchise could be based. The west coast of USA is more accessible from NZ/Aus/Fiji with regular direct flights. Maybe if England agreed to play 3 tests instead of just 2 then there would not be a need to go all the way to USA this year. Yet SH teams are expected to play minimum of 3 tests in Europe in end of year tours.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
While both happened at the same time both happened for different reasons. If its a case of Oz people will only support winners as is often stated then AFL and NRL will probably be the only professional leagues you end up with in the football codes. But as soccer has shown while the A-league may not be well supported European soccer is and union fans if they can only support Oz playing 20 games a season then they will most like do that than leave Union. Are there less players not than 20 years ago or is it there are more league and AFL players. One can falling behind others without declining.