As Dave Rennie received the full backing through to next year’s World Cup despite the Wallabies slumping to an all-time low on the World Rugby rankings, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan said he was still prepared to sever ties with New Zealand Rugby if an equitable deal could not be reached.
That’s not to say that RA doesn’t want to make a deal with NZR though, with a 10-year deal being discussed.
What’s more, the RA chair said the governing body was getting closer to going to market with their private equity proposal and added they were looking at setting up an endowment fund of over $100 million to secure the game’s future.
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After years of being belittled by their trans-Tasman neighbours, McLennan has put RA back on the map after it was left dragging the chain over the past decade.
The game’s struggles were compounded by the mismanagement of the previous decade, where millions of dollars were wasted after hosting the Lions in 2001 and a World Cup two years later.
McLennan is eager not to repeat the sins of the past, having jumped on board at the height of RA’s crisis as the governing body struggled to stay afloat following the onset of COVID.
Key to driving the game forward will be hosting the Lions (2025) and the men’s (2027) and women’s (2029) World Cups.
In particular, the three Lions Tests and the venue of the World Cup final will provide massive cash injections.
Just which city wins the rights to host the World Cup final remains to be seen, but McLennan admitted bums on seats would play a part in the decision making of who secures the deal.
“There’s an argument that says we should be serving the major home unions, where there’s a lot of history, like Queensland and New South Wales, but then what’s to say we couldn’t host it to 60,000 people in WA or potentially 100,000 in Melbourne,” McLennan said.
“I mean, that’s pretty exciting.
“The dollars have to really drive it to.
“We’re looking at setting up an endowment fund to fund rugby in the future when I’m dead and gone of well over $100 million, so that we don’t go through what we went through in 2020 through COVID.
“So a lot of that will be funded out of the World Cup.”
The golden decade on RA’s doorstep has the governing body in an advantageous position moving forward.
It is why the NZR is anxious about making a deal because there are blue skies ahead for RA, even if not all is rosy at present.
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McLennan has met with his NZR counterparts three times in as many weeks and were hosting its allies at their suite at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night for the Bledisloe Cup opener.
No deal has been agreed upon yet, but it is understood both governing bodies are keen to work out their future within the next month.
A 10-year deal is on the table and while it may not be a 50-50 financial split to begin with, should both parties agree it will head that way in due time as RA gets their ducks in a row.
Nonetheless, as revealed in June, McLennan reiterated that RA was prepared to go it alone and recommence their own domestic product if a fair deal was not reached.
“I’ve been consistent in saying (NZR chairman) Stewart Mitchell is a really good guy and so we’re still talking about Super Rugby and trans-Tasman,” McLennan told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
“We’re not there, it’s grinding forward I would say.
“I saw them in Cape Town last week for the sevens (World Cup) so hopefully it will resolve itself or we’ll go domestic.
“I think the new regime understands and appreciates that New Zealand’s future is tied to Australia’s success.
“Whether you call that respect, I don’t know, but I think there’s an acknowledgement that we’re actually a pretty important part of their mix now.”
Pressed on whether his threat of pulling out of Super Rugby Pacific was real, McLennan doubled down and added that the Wallabies’ failure to win the Bledisloe Cup over the past two decades could suggest that tying itself to New Zealand was possibly not the best thing in any case.
“It is (a real option), we wouldn’t have said it if we weren’t real,” McLennan said.
“There’s no doubt, we’ve said it publicly, that the high performance outcomes would probably be better with New Zealand in the mix.
“But we’re not going to play second fiddle so time will tell if we’re bluffing.
“But they know we’re serious – we’ve got the backing of our member unions, Super Rugby club chairs and Channel 9 to go domestic.
“And look, we haven’t won a Bledisloe in 20 years so who’s to say that a domestic competition wouldn’t deliver more money to Rugby Australia and possibly, with more teams and more players, better high performance outcomes.”
Meanwhile, McLennan backed under pressure Wallabies coach Rennie through to next year’s World Cup.
It comes despite the fact the Wallabies will slip to ninth on the World Rugby rankings should they lose their Bledisloe opener, with Rennie holding a 40.7 winning percentage (11/27, three draws)..
“Yes, absolutely (he will coach through to the World Cup),” he said.
“Dave’s done a great job in settling the team down.
“There’s been real progress that’s been made.
“He’s as frustrated as anyone (with the current results).”
