NZRU chief Steve Tew says ARU wasn’t bullied by the Kiwis to axe a team

KIWI rugby boss Steve Tew has leapt to the defence of his Australian counterparts, saying they are courageous rather than stupid for agreeing to cut a Super Rugby franchise.

KIWI rugby boss Steve Tew has leapt to the defence of Australian counterparts Bill Pulver and Cameron Clyne, saying they are courageous rather than stupid for agreeing to cut a Super Rugby franchise.

ARU chief executive Pulver and chairman Clyne confirmed on Monday that they’d proposed a trans-Tasman only model, but that was rejected by New Zealand, who insist on maintaining a partnership with South Africa.

The ARU is expected to announce by Thursday that they’ll axe the Western Force in a revamped 15-team competition from 2018.

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Critics of Pulver and Clyne say they should have called New Zealand’s bluff, believing the Kiwis would have agreed to a trans-Tasman model if the ARU threatened to walk away altogether.

The Daily Telegraph asked NZRU chief executive Tew on Monday night what they would have done had the ARU stood firm.

“I’m not interested in speculating on a scenario I doubt would ever have happened, why would Australia walk away and play on their own? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Tew said.

“Our view is that our athletes want to play South Africa at this level of their careers, and we think it’s helped the All Blacks.

“Let’s remember that the top four countries at World Cup in 2015 came from this particular joint venture.

“So all is not broken as we speak.”

Tew also denied Australia was bullied the Kiwis into cutting a team.

“Bill and Cameron haven’t been bullied by anybody, and they’re not ever going to be bullied, they’re not stupid,” Tew said.

“All of us come to the table and we fight very hard for what’s right for our countries. But ultimately we have to make some decisions that are in the best interests of the collective, and that’s what we’ve all done.

“I think it’s been incredibly courageous of Australia and South Africa to accept that in their markets the 18-team competition is not working, the talent available for the teams is not there, and the financial situation is not working.

“They’re prepared to make some tough calls and I think that’s to be commended and we support them 100 per cent.”

Clyne said it would have been disastrous for Australian rugby to hold the Kiwis to ransom and then see them form a new competition with South Africa.

“You don’t call a bluff unless you’re prepared for the outcomes,” Clyne said.

“I’ve enjoyed the amount of people who’ve become neurologists in this game and made assessments about anatomical requirements.

“People say ‘Australia should just tough it out, the Kiwis will never fly over the top of you to play South Africa’.

“You’ve got to be absolutely sure that’s the case, if you’re going to play that card.

ARU chief executive Bill Pulver and chairman Cameron Clyne. Picture: Phil Hillyard

“You may think it, but you don’t know.

“You cannot play that card unless you’re prepared for the outcome, it may very well be that they do fly over the top of you.

“You may say that’s a remote possibility, but that would be catastrophic for Australian rugby.

“So you play that card, even if there’s a small risk that might occur, it’s a very dangerous game to play.”

Tew added that many critics don’t fully understand the threat posed by cashed up northern hemisphere clubs.

“We’ve got a whole lot of experts who right now have bits and pieces of information and not all of it,” Tew said.

“The reality is if we want to survive, with what’s going on in France and the United Kingdom, we’re going to have to get revenue out of new markets, and those new markets are not in Australia or New Zealand.

“We’re in a joint venture that’s got 20 years of history, we play in a world where there is very intense competition for our talent.

“And right now all three of the founding countries in SANZAAR are struggling with that particular battle because of the obscene amount of money coming from the French clubs, it makes no economic sense and doesn’t help in markets like ours which are affected.

“Australia suffers because it is not the top sport, we suffer because we’re a very small economy, South Africa suffers because their economy and their currency is in trouble.

“We’ve all got challenges.

“We are committed to the joint venture, we believe for a host of reasons including high performance stuff, it’s best to be playing South Africa in this competition.

“That is really our starting point.

“The other thing worth mentioning, with some of these observations, is that we are only two years into a five-year deal, so any significant change would require a complete renegotiation of those.

“Frankly we thought the risks are too great. And in any case, we believe playing South Africa is the right thing.”

Originally published as NZRU chief Steve Tew says ARU wasn’t bullied by the Kiwis to axe a team