Pay talks delay a roadblock to World Rugby rescue package

Rugby Australia can access a low-interest loan from World Rugby but has yet to meet one crucial condition.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper expects to take a bigger pay cut than the lower-paid Super Rugby players. Picture: Getty Images

The drawn-out pay cut talks with players are now delaying Rugby Australia’s ability to be at the head of the queue for a multimillion-dollar rescue package.

On Thursday night the code’s international governing body World Rugby became “World Bank” so that the 10 Tier One nations, and smaller unions, can apply for emergency low-interest loans.

RA could potentially access a $10-$20m lifeline in grant advances and loans from the new COVID-19 relief fund of around $160m to help Australia’s cash-crippled rugby economy.

World Rugby has also stepped up with a cautious vision for international rugby’s return with the Wallabies’ Tests against Ireland (two) and Fiji shunted to October if they can’t be played in July.

They would be followed by a November tour of Europe as ­planned.

World Rugby has stated that this “short-term reshaping” could be a radical forerunner of a shake-up to the global calendar from next year.

“While initially a response to an unprecedented crisis, the modelling work achieved potentially provides direction for long-term reform of the rugby calendar,” a World Rugby statement said on Thursday night.

It’s the strongest indicator yet that a Nations Cup-style tournament pitting the world’s top nations against each other in a late-year window is a possibility.

Subject to medical advice and border restrictions, The Rugby Championship will go ahead as scheduled, starting with the August 8 blockbuster between the Wallabies and All Blacks at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.

How swiftly World Rugby has moved with the bailout is a godsend but loan applications come with a simple catch — get your backyard in order first with an organised pay deal with players.

As of Thursday, the Kiwis can fill out the paperwork for a loan to help ride out the coronavirus crisis but Australian rugby cannot.

NZ Rugby Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol announced “we have agreed to immediately freeze approximately $NZ25m ($23.6m), or 50 per cent, of the remaining forecasted player spend in 2020”, which is from All Blacks ace Beauden Barrett down.

RA and the Rugby Union Players’ Association, headed by former Wallaby Justin Harrison, must finally reach a deal after their tennis match of recent weeks. Indications are it will come on Friday for Australia’s 192 professional players but any twists to the 65 per cent cut request for six months from RA are yet to play out.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, on an estimated $1.2m a year, accepts he will take a far bigger hit than Super Rugby rookies on base $85,000 contracts because RUPA has always aimed to insulate lower-end players.

“Global sport is facing a crisis never seen before and at this most challenging time we are taking unprecedented action as a sport united to support global rugby, its unions, competitions and players through the enormous challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said.

“The measures announced will provide support and short-term relief in the form of a $US100m relief fund while we are making excellent progress towards calendar options that reflect and address a dynamic, complex and uncertain environment.”

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