Australia the big winners in curious new Super Rugby deal
Not much more than two years ago, an indepent review commissioned by New Zealand Rugby determined that a Super Rugby replacement competition involving five sides from New Zealand and up to three from Australia was the best way forward for the game in NZ.
When push came to shove, however, the findings from the Aratipu report were effectively ignored.
Rugby Australia, unsurprisingly, weren’t too happy with the findings and insisted that if they were to be involved in any competition with New Zealand, they certainly wouldn’t be cutting any of their sides.
Super Rugby Pacific was eventually conceived a few months later and lo and behold, all five Australian franchises were included – alongside five from NZ and two to represent the Pacific Islands.
The tournament kicked off to much (internal) fanfair earlier this year but ultimately failed to live up to the hype, with the New Zealand sides once again dominating the competition and the Australia teams falling short of the mark.
The Brumbies, Waratahs and Reds all featured in the knockout stages of the tournament, with eight of the 12 participants progressing through to the finals, but managed just eight wins over their trans-Tasman opposition throughout the entirety of the competition.
Some from Australia suggested that represented an improvement in their teams’ performances after a disastrous 2020 but the fact remains that in most instances, games between NZ and Australian sides followed a rather predictable formula, and nothing kills interest in a sport faster than predictability.
Yet, not content with having more seats at the table than they deserved on merit, the powers that be in Australia have also felt justified in criticising the current revenue model which has significantly favoured NZ.
Of course, NZR and RA negotiated their own deals with their local broadcasters. While Sky were willing to pay approximately $100 million per year to operate as the sole broadcaster in New Zealand (a figure which includes Test rugby, Super Rugby and the provincial competition), RA sold their rights for not much more than a third of that amount.
In the past, revenue was shared between NZ, South Africa and Australia but the recent years of disruption due to Covid forced the change and as the NZ sides (whether All Blacks, Blues or Tasman et cetera) unsurprisingly boast more pulling power than their Australian counterparts, NZR came out trumps compared to their brothers across the ditch.
RA haven’t been happy with the separate arrangements, however, and despite all signs indicating that earnings were being distributed fairly between the two unions (or at least as fairly as the market can dictate), they have been demanding more money to go with their increased number of teams in Super Rugby.
And now, it appears that New Zealand Rugby have caved.
“An agreement has been settled regarding revenue sharing between the parties until the conclusion of the current broadcast deals at the end of 2025,” said the official statement following today’s confirmation of a new eight-year venture between NZR and RA, “with further financial agreements to be determined following the finalisation of future broadcast agreements.
Somehow, almost defying belief, Rugby Australia have been able to fight their way to what seems like a perfect arrangement for the union – even if that won’t result in the best product on the field, or the best outcome for New Zealand.
The question remains whether five teams can be sustained in Australia, both in terms of fan engagement and the player base – and that’s something that NZR CEO Mark Robinson says has been a conversation point between the two unions.
“The sustainability of Australian teams is a question for them really. We’ve had conversations about that and prefer from our perspective to keep those behind closed doors.
“There are sustainability issues right across the game now – they don’t only sit in this part of the world, they sit certainly in the Northern Hemisphere where I’ve been recently – and the challenge for us is to create value and engagement and access into our sport that sees that value grow. And that’s now a really key focus of this competition.”
Robinson also suggested that the establishment of a nine-person board – including an independent chair, four independent Directors, and one representative each from NZR, RA, the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA) and the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) – should ensure the best interests of both countries are catered to, and that’s helped move NZR’s view on the best competition structure when compared with what was suggested in the Aratipu report.
“If I look at what’s different and what’s not so different in this competition construct, I guess what’s different is [we have] a board which is a strong collaboration of national union interests, club interests and player interests sitting across that board that we’ve never had before.
“[It’s] one governance body focusing on what’s good for the fans, what’s good for entertainment, what preserves safety and player welfare all at the same table, all having the same conversation. So that’s incredibly unique and out of that, we hope that it will create a huge amount of long-term value.”
The proof will be in the pudding, however.
The ‘landmark’ eight-year deal will quickly be criticised by fans if the on-field product remains predictable and largely uncompetitive – and that means both NZR and RA will be hoping for a strong showing from the five Australian franchises during next year’s competition.
Comments on RugbyPass
It sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
7 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
203 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
2 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
7 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
7 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
7 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
203 Go to comments