Brumbies in firing line if Super Rugby contracts

The Australian Super Rugby presence could be stripped back to just three teams with the country’s most successful franchise in the firing line.

Vaiolini Ekuasi plays for the Rebels in what is likely to be the final season for the Super Rugby franchise.

On Friday night, the Super Rugby season opens at AAMI Park in Melbourne when the beleaguered Rebels face the Brumbies with a tumultuous off-season casting a long shadow over the game.

It is likely that nothing will save the Melbourne Rebels beyond this season – $20 million debt and voluntary administration will do that – but don’t be surprised if it is not the only casualty. There is growing talk that three Super Rugby teams in Australia might be the way of the future. Some insiders are even suggesting as soon as next season.

Contracting Australia’s Super Rugby participation to just three teams is hardly a new consideration but for the first time it’s being talked about seriously.

The code is wrestling with difficult financial times and some ­influential rugby powerbrokers believe the way forward is that less may equal more in Super Rugby. It’s been an uneasy pre-season for the competition. The financial plight of the Rebels has brought more talk about insolvency than rucks and mauls. It is not a storm in a teacup, it’s a teacup in a storm.

This week the NRL announced its total revenue reached a record $701.1 million and the AFL trumpeted that it is poised to spend $1 billion during the next decade to ensure one million people across Australia are playing the sport.

Meanwhile, Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh is juggling the Rebels’ financial fallout with RA’s $80m loan. He has few options.

Australia’s Super Rugby captains gather for the season launch in Auckland this week Picture: Getty Images

When asked by The Australian whether a three-team Super Rugby contingent was an option, Waugh said RA’s priority was to ensure the Australian franchises were “commercially viable”.

“We are doing our due diligence to analyse what the most ­appropriate number of Australian teams is – which covers both commercial viability and RA’s aspiration to have winning teams in gold,” Waugh told The Australian.

“The two most important things for Super Rugby are, firstly, for us to continue growing participation and building stronger pathways to grow our talent pool in Australia.

“The second thing is to ensure that the teams that we do have are unified with RA on high performance. The strategies and programs that we are implementing right across elite rugby in this country need to have winning teams in gold at the heart of it.”

Waugh said Australia’s rugby teams were existing in one of the world’s toughest sporting market places but there is still an ambition to make it the best provincial rugby competition in the world.

“To be that consistent, we need to keep pushing the boundaries and innovating – we know we have a unique market in the rugby world,” he said. “Few rugby markets around the world endure the same level of scrutiny and competition as we have here in Australia.”

Waugh said if Australia’s Super Rugby landscape was in a better state, it would ultimately benefit the Wallabies, who are ranked No.7 in the world. Notably, no Australian Super Rugby side has made the final since 2014.

There is a belief that if there is fiercer competition at Australia’s Super Rugby level to crack into a team, that will hopefully lift the high-performance standards.

Waugh also wants Super Rugby clubs to have more connection with their communities. In recent times he has said the game’s grassroots have been neglected.

“Super Rugby clubs must be engaging with their local communities and helping the game achieve its goals at that local level – as important as the link is between the Wallabies and Super Rugby, the link between Super Rugby teams and their communities needs to be prioritised equally,” he said.

Which brings us to the Rebels’ opponents on Friday night.

Only the naive would think the Brumbies are not next in line after the Rebels should the competition “contract”. As rugby insiders privately say; the Western Force has the backing of billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, while the Waratahs and Reds are immovable as the powerhouse rugby states.

The Brumbies, Australia’s most successful franchise on the field, one that has delivered glorious chapters involving some of the Wallaby greats like George Gregan and Stephen Larkham (now coach of the team) are exposed in times like these.

Last month, ACT Brumbies chair Matthew Nobbs told The Australian the Super Rugby franchise was “fighting” to stay afloat but determined to “avoid insolvency” and he was confident private equity could help secure the future of the club.

While the Brumbies have a great history, nothing is certain, and everything is on the table in a time when franchises are battling for survival.