Rugby Confidential: Queensland Reds unrest over Brad Thorn training, RWC final 2027 venue
The Queensland Reds started their season with a strong win over the Rebels - but not all is well at the club under hard-nosed coach Brad Thorn. RUGBY CONFIDENTIAL is back!
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Not all is happy at the Queensland Reds.
Players held their own meeting prior to the season kick-off, with some unhappy about the training load imposed by hard-nosed coach Brad Thorn.
A notorious taskmaster, Thorn expects relentless work ethic from his squad. But a few already feel overworked.
Several players cleared out of the dressing rooms quickly after the Reds’ round one win over Melbourne last weekend.
Could RA revamp Giteau Law?
A hot rumour doing the rounds late last year was that Quade Cooper could be coaxed back to Australian rugby, and sign with NSW Waratahs.
However, that door is shut, with Cooper signing a contract extension with his Japanese club Hanazono Kintetsu Liners until the end of the 2023 season.
Cooper already qualifies for the Wallabies under the Giteau Law because he’s played 75 Tests.
But Rugby Australia will tweak the 60-Test minimum rule as it deals with more defections and overseas signings.
RA had hoped lock Rory Arnold and hooker Tolu Latu would return to Super Rugby next year, but Arnold will take up a massive $4.5 million, three-year deal in Japan while Latu has re-signed with Top 14 club Stade Francais.
They’re not close to 60 Tests and will be needed for Tests this year and next year’s World Cup.
One option is to give Wallabies coach Dave Rennie an allowance of up to four overseas-based players for each series the team will play this year; England, The Rugby Championship, and the spring tour.
It seems inevitable that for the World Cup, Rennie will be given freedom to pick his best players, regardless of where they play.
One star who does seem set to stay long-term is prop Taniela Tupou.
The in-demand tighthead will join the millionaires’ club when his deal expires at the end of 2023, but while cashed-up overseas teams are in the hunt, RA is expected to allow the Tongan Thor to take a Japanese sabbatical, like Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, in order to retain him.
Perth in line to steal 2027 RWC final
Perth is in prime position to steal the 2027 Rugby World Cup final from Sydney and Melbourne, because of its time zone.
Australia is set to be confirmed as hosts of the 2027 tournament in May, but as far as the venue for the final is concerned, only three venues are in contention.
“The World Rugby mandate is that the stadium for the semi-finals and final must be able to seat at least 60,000 people, and we’ve only got three stadiums that can do that; Optus Stadium (Perth), [Accor Stadium] Sydney (formerly known as Stadium Australia) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” RWC 2027 bid executive director Phil Kearns told Rugby Confidential.
“They’ve all got their strengths. The thing is, Rugby Australia doesn’t get to decide the venue for the final, World Rugby does.
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“And Optus is not only a fabulous ground, but Perth is in a good time zone for the UK audience which brings in more television dollars, so it may be the case that is the more lucrative option.”
World Rugby has shown in the past its willingness to grab the most cash on offer, as the revenues from World Cups fund operations for the four years between cycles.
An 8pm kick-off in Sydney or Melbourne would be 11am in London. But 8pm in Perth would mean a friendlier 2pm kick-off in the UK, when many Test and club rugby games are played in the north.
But if the game does land west, rugby fans on Australia’s east coast will have to wait until 11pm, while All Blacks supporters would be forced to stay up for a 1am kick-off.
Accor Stadium will have tradition on its side, given Sydney’s long history of Test match and club rugby, while the MCG holds the most people with a capacity of 100,000.
Kearns confirmed that the ACT, Tasmania and Northern Territory would all miss out on World Cup games.
“Fundamentally, World Rugby put mandates on the size of stadiums and infrastructure, and those places don’t stack up,” Kearns said.
“Most disappointingly, Canberra misses out. When it gets to 2027, that stadium will be 50 years old and it’s just not up to scratch.
“If you look at Perth, if you build it, it will grow. Who would have thought seven years ago Perth would be hosting Bledisloe Cups, State of Origin games, and be in line to host a World Cup final? But the investment has paid off.”
Kearns said bid organisers hoped to engage cities who miss out on games by having teams hold training camps there.
“What better way to acclimatise to the Australian heat than holding your training camp in the Northern Territory,” Kearns said.
Australia braces for rugby feast
Australia is in the frame to win the hosting rights to the 2029 Women’s World Cup, setting up a mammoth run of major rugby events here.
Already confirmed is the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour.
In two months we’ll have confirmation of hosting the 2027 men’s World Cup, and two years later we should be putting on the women’s tournament, which organisers are confident will by then be a major event on the sporting landscape.
Female participation is the fastest growing sector in rugby, and in another seven years crowds and television audiences are expected to explode.
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