Forced out, rugby’s poster boy tackles ARU over using his image

A sports-mad Perth boy is annoyed that the Australian Rugby Union is using him as the star of a national campaign.

Sam Harding, 11, at Cottesloe, features in an Australian Rugby Union sales campaign for the Wallabies’ three-Test series against Ireland. Picture: Colin Murty

Like thousands of other rugby fans in the west, 11-year-old Sam Harding was shattered when his favourite team, the Western Force, was axed from the Super Rugby competition last year.

Now the sports-mad Perth boy is dumbfounded and “a bit ­annoyed” that the Australian Rugby Union is using a photograph of him as the star of a ­national campaign to try to sell tickets to Wallabies matches.

Rugby fans across Australia received an email from the ARU this week promoting the three-Test series against Ireland in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney that included a photo of Sam taken in the crowd at a Wallabies match in Perth last year.

“As a valued member of the junior rugby community we are delighted to offer you a special ticket offer for the June series,” the email said.

Sam’s father Steve, who is also a coach at the Cottesloe Junior Rugby Club, said he found it ironic the ARU had chosen a child from Western Australia for its advertising after the decision to axe the Force had caused such anger.

Sam Harding in the ARU sales campaign.

Mr Harding said it was also ironic that the number of children playing rugby at the club, and across WA, had been growing strongly in recent years. “It’s typical of the ARU’s maladministration that they would use Sam’s image,” Mr Harding said.

“As a kid in WA, Sam doesn’t have the opportunity to see live rugby. The Force have been scrapped and the Wallabies aren’t even coming here for this series.”

As he trained with dozens of other passionate juniors, Sam said his interest in watching rugby had fallen away since the Force were axed — a decision that still makes him “very sad”.

Instead, he will be attending Perth Glory matches in soccer’s A-League and West Coast Eagles matches in the AFL. “Rugby used to be my absolute favourite sport and I went to every Force game,” he said. “But now cricket, soccer and (Australian rules) football have gone up in the rankings.”

Sam said while he was annoyed the ARU had used his image, he could only think of one solution that would appease him. “They should fly me to Sydney to watch the Wallabies game,” he said.

A spokesman for the ARU yesterday apologised to the Harding family.

“We have attempted to reach the family of the young Wallabies fan to apologise for any upset caused by his image appearing in the email,” he said.

Since the Force was cut from Super Rugby, Perth mining magnate Andrew Forrest has announced plans to create his own Indo-Pacific Rugby Competition that would include the Perth-based club.

The IPRC competition is set to kick off next February but has not received a formal sign-off by Rugby Australia.