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Australian rugby

September

Australia’s recent loss to Argentina has revealed the hard truths facing Australian rugby.

Australian rugby’s problems only look to be getting worse

The problems with Australian rugby extend far beyond the coaching box or those who wear the jersey.

  • James Curran
Jake Gordon scores for the Wallabies.

Wallabies clinch last-gasp comeback win in Argentina

It took a penalty from substitute Ben Donaldson on the buzzer to secure a victory that could put Australia’s Rugby Championship campaign back on track.

  • Murray Wenzel

July

Austral console each other after the loss.ia’s Faith Nathan, left and teammate Australia’s Teagan Levi

‘It sucks’: Distraught Aussie women walk away from rugby empty-handed

The sevens team came into the Games set for gold, but against Canada and then the US they watched a medal almost literally sprint away from them.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen
Henry Hutchison of Australia during the Men’s Rugby Sevens Quarter Final match between Australia and USA during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in Paris.

The cheeky Bob Hawke quip that could deliver our first gold medal

They delivered an 18-0 drubbing to the Americans in their sevens quarter-final after drawing inspiration from some blunt speaking by Bob Hawke.

  • Staff writers
Wallabies captain Liam Wright.

New-look Wallabies out to move on from World Cup fiasco

Captain Liam Wright is confident survivors of the team’s disastrous France campaign can use the ordeal to help them rise from a lowly world ranking of No.9.

  • Darren Walton
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June

Australia’s star winger of the 1980s David Campese.

Who were the 15 greatest Wallabies of all time?

In a new book, author and indispensable rugby commentator Gordon Bray had a brutal task picking from the 900 players who have represented Australia over 125 years.

  • James Curran

May

The Melbourne Rebels have been shut down.

Legal action vowed against Rugby Australia after Melbourne Rebels axed

Troubled rugby union club Melbourne Rebels has been shut down after 14 seasons.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing and Zoe Samios
The future of the Melbourne Rebels was decided at a creditors’ meeting on Friday.

Melbourne Rebels survive but fight with ATO, Rugby Australia not over

Former Melbourne Rebels director Georgia Widdup said the decision meant plans for a “financially sustainable future” could progress.

  • Zoe Samios
The future of the Melbourne Rebels will be decided at a creditors meeting on Friday.

PwC dragged into Melbourne Rebels fight, Rugby Australia alleges bias

Tensions over the future of the Victorian rugby union club escalated dramatically on Thursday when Rugby Australia fired off a letter to PwC.

  • Zoe Samios

April

Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert revealed the governing body’s results at its AGM in Sydney on Monday.

Rugby Australia stakeholders oust director, former NRL exec elected

The governing body’s shareholders were required to vote for five board directors at the annual general meeting. Only four were elected.

  • Zoe Samios
Administrators for The Melbourne Rebels would prefer the club be saved rather than liquidated.

Melbourne Rebels may have traded insolvent since 2018: PwC

The rugby union club’s administrator, PwC, recommends it be rescued rather than liquidated to ensure creditors and staff receive the most money possible.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios
Former Nine and NRL executive Alexi Baker will be put up for election to the Rugby Australia board.

Ex-NRL executive in frame for Rugby Aus board as club tensions mount

Alexi Baker is one of two candidates up for election at the company’s AGM as it tries to rebuild the game and change its fortunes.

  • Zoe Samios
Prominent Melbourne businessman Leigh Clifford is trying to save the Melbourne Rebels.

Leigh Clifford-backed consortium moves to takeover Melbourne Rebels

A group led by the former Qantas chairman is trying to move the rugby union team, which collapsed into administration this year, to the city’s western suburbs.

  • Zoe Samios

January

The Melbourne Rebels are in voluntary administration. .

Melbourne Rebels headed for voluntary administration

The BRC Capital-backed club has been asked by Rugby Australia to seek external advice amid a deterioration in its finances.

  • Zoe Samios and Jessica Sier
BRC Capital and Melbourne Rebels chairman Paul Docherty (left) with Rebels head coach Kevin Foote.

Hiro Brands calls in administrators, 120 jobs on the line

The cosmetics and personal care group is backed by BRC Capital. KPMG said the majority of positions would go if the company could not be sold.

  • Zoe Samios
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December 2023

The Rebels’ Carter Gordon earlier this year. The Rebels’ Josh Kemeny in action earlier this year. The club is struggling to make its tax payments, and is behind on others also.

Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels falls behind on tax bill, stadium fees

While the ATO is demanding its directors pay up, the club’s chairman, Paul Docherty, insists the team is financially viable.

  • Zoe Samios

November 2023

Newly appointed Rugby Australia chair Dan Herbert is determined to get centralisation done.

Inside the Zoom board meetings which flipped rugby on its back

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan is gone, and he’s made sure everyone knows it. But where to from here?

  • Zoe Samios and Mark Di Stefano
Daniel Herbert has replaced Hamish McLennan as Rugby Australia’s chairman.

Ares, Pacific Equity Partners line up for Rugby Australia debt

Negotiations with credit providers are entering extra time as the code looks for $60 million.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
New Rugby Australia chairman Dan Herbert pictured in Brisbane on Monday, the day after taking over from ousted chairman Hamish McLennan.

New Rugby boss Dan Herbert says ‘everyone recognises’ game is broken

But deposed chairman Hamish McLennan, who was ousted in a boardroom coup on Sunday, has warned his exit will lead to “more division ... not less”.

  • Updated
  • Kylar Loussikian and Zoe Samios
Hamish McLennan described the actions of six state unions against him as “grubby”.

Future of Rugby chair in balance after emergency board meeting

But Hamish McLennan says the state unions that want him out are self-interested and waging a “grubby” smear campaign.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/australian-rugby-5um