Kicking its house into touch

Devoted rugby fans, and those who love the big games, miss the excitement of our World Cup victories in 1991 and 1999 and the painful thrill of the 2003 Sydney final when Jonny Wilkinson snatched glory for England with a drop goal in the final seconds. We want those exciting days back, which is why after some lean and controversial years, the code needs its house in order. The first challenge for its new chairman, likely to be businessman Hamish McLennan, is to put Rugby Australia’s financial house in order. That is vital as it faces more than $20m in liabilities, with no new broadcast deal in place.

After being leaked a hefty swath of rugby’s financial records, chief sports writer Jessica Halloran poses a couple of key questions on Monday: “How can RA spend $333,000 a day in 2019 and have nothing to show for it?’’ and “Why does the game have no assets to speak of following years of massive broadcast revenue?’’ While all that was happening, the Wallabies slipped to No 7 in the world and crowds and TV viewers went away, despite millions of dollars being poured into marketing, high performance and teams. Former CEO Raelene Castle increased the size of the media department by 33 per cent.

Halloran’s report helps solve a mystery hidden for too long from clubs, state organisations, players and fans. That is, the state of the code’s finances. The costly Israel Folau fiasco did not help. But nor does it explain why RA has spent $500m over the past four years. None of this is anything to do with COVID-19, although the pandemic will make the going harder for all codes this season. An audit, and putting the finances to rights, will be important building blocks if the code is to survive and rebuild. As it must.