Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest insists he is 100 per cent behind the Force

Andrew Forrest has stressed he is “100 per cent” committed both to the Western Force and Rugby Australia.

Billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest says he won’t abandon the Western Force Picture: Getty Images

Andrew Forrest has stressed he is “100 per cent” committed both to the Western Force and Rugby Australia and has dismissed rumours to the contrary as evidence of the same disharmony that led to the turmoil of 2017 when the Australian Rugby Union, as it was then known, culled the Perth club from Super Rugby.

Watch Australia v Argentina in the last match of the 2020 Tri Nations. Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly

Rumours have been rife in Australian rugby for some time that Forrest was considering backing out of his support of the Force and the sport overall. But the Perth mining billionaire interrupted his global “green tour” to contact The Australian to set the record straight.

“It’s amazing to me because I always thought you judged a person by their actions and my actions have been completely supportive of the national body,” Forrest said.

He has placed only one condition on Rugby Australia. “If they adopt a world-leading constitution which would lead to a world-leading game of rugby in Australia, then I would continue to strongly support them.”

He said that any suggestions he was contemplating pulling back on his support for the Force or rugby in Western Australia were “complete and utter nonsense”.

“We strongly suspect these rumours are being sown by the parties that sought to damage the Western Force in the past. It is this off-field disharmony that led to the disastrous near-terminal funding decisions of the former board of RA.

“Our commitment to grassroots rugby cannot be questioned – as recently as July, Nicola (Forrest) and I announced another $5 million to create an elite pathways program in WA. This is on top of the $2 million we had already committed to women’s and children’s rugby in WA.

“The rebirth of the Force is one of Australia’s great sporting stories. My ambition is to now make the Western Force the strongest club in world rugby, with far more locally grown players. We have only just begun on this journey and I am committed to seeing it through for many years to come.”

RA chairman Hamish McLennan said good progress was being made in drafting a new constitution under legal experts Tim North, QC and Bruce Hodgkinson, SC. “There are a few points in contention that we are working through and we are evaluating the impact of any private equity deal in the future and how that would affect the constitution,” McLennan said.

It is believed that RA does not want to rush a decision on the constitution until it has observed what New Zealand and South Africa intend to do with private equity. There are some head-spinning ramifications from taking on a private equity partner and RA does not want to be faced with rewriting a newly-drafted constitution to make allowances for them.

While RA is being circled by CVC Capital Partners, Silver Lake and other private equity firms, it is possible it will approach Forrest to be involved in any such venture. The Force owner did not rule out such a deal.

“If Rugby Australia approaches me more than philanthropically, I will consider any such approach,” he told The Australian.

While there has been some criticism of the decision to include the Force in the split of the broadcast deal, it would have been inequitable to exclude them.

“Two points are worth noting here,” said RA CEO Rob Clarke. “One is that the Western Force have been a key part of standing up a domestic competition this year. And as we look to trans-Tasman expansion, (they are) a key part of ensuring that Australian rugby has equally footing with New Zealand and how future competitions are going to evolve.

“At the same time, the five (Australian) teams were part of our broadcast agreement that we have done with Nine and Stan. It (the Force) is an important piece in the financial equation.”