How did SANZAAR betray New Zealand when the chairman is a Kiwi?

Kiwi commentator lashes the handling of the Rugby Championship as SANZAAR boss is accused of angling for plum Australian gig.

SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos in Sydney last week. Picture: Getty Images

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has come out in strong support of SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos who has been vilified in the New Zealand media for endorsing Australia’s handling of the Rugby Championship match schedule.

According to the NZ Herald – an outlet which is seen within Australian rugby circles as a mouthpiece for NZ Rugby – Marinos has backed Australia’s version of events “in the hope of landing a new plum position” as Rugby Australia’s CEO, replacing the interim chief executive Rob Clarke.

“The Sydney-based South African has been short-listed for the Rugby Australia’s chief executive position, and with that in mind it’s only fair to ask how objective he can be in the standoff between NZ Rugby and RA over the Rugby Championship scheduling debacle that threatens to force the All Blacks to quarantine through Christmas on their return home,” the NZ Herald wrote.

The “standoff” looks set to fizzle out entirely in the wake of a report in The Sunday Telegraph that flights between NSW and New Zealand could resume within weeks to kick start the trans-Tasman travel bubble on both sides of the ditch. There would reportedly be no quarantine period required.

Yet even if the prospect of the All Blacks having to spend Christmas in quarantine as a result of playing the December 12 Test against the Wallabies is removed, the slur against Marinos remains.

Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan. Picture: Getty Images

“I’m only speaking out because I take great offence to any disgraceful slur on Andy’s reputation,” McLennan told The Australian. “Andy has been honourable and transparent through the entire TRC process and New Zealand lost the bid because Australia provided a superior commercial outcome and better quarantine regime for all nations.

“It’s absurd to blame the SANZAAR CEO for the outcome which was endorsed by South Africa and Argentina. NZ shouldn’t throw the CEO under the bus when the chairman of SANZAAR is a Kiwi – and also the head of NZ Rugby (Brent Impey).

“A subcommittee has been formed to look at the CEO process which I oversee and I have never spoken to Andy about the (RA) CEO role and he has not been interviewed by the subcommittee. He is a high-quality individual but it is wrong for NZ to speculate on our CEO process. And they are wrong.”

When NZ looked like holding the Rugby Championship because of its then Covid-free status, Australia requested the tournament be played by December 5 in order to allow the Wallabies to return home and complete quarantine in time for them to spend Christmas with their families. NZ would not agree. But when the tournament was taken off NZ and given to Australia and the Kiwis made precisely the same request, Australia felt honour bound to support them.

The amazing thing about the TRC schedule is that when NZR thought they were hosting it, they turned down Rugby Australia’s request to play six tests in five weeks.

— Scotty Stevenson (@sumostevenson) September 23, 2020

The problem was that for all major decisions, the four SANZAAR joint venturers must be in agreement and while Australia and NZ voted to compress the tournament, South Africa and Argentina did not. December 12 stood as the date of the final round, although even that issue now looks likely to be solved at NSW and NZ government level.

Yet clearly there is some faulty thinking going on at the highest levels of NZ Rugby – and it is not just Australians who believe so. On Friday, senior NZ sports presenter and rugby commentator Scotty Stevenson launched an extraordinary attack on NZR, describing their handling of the Rugby Championship as “an absolute shambles”.

“I think unfortunately NZR got ahead of themselves – far too ahead of themselves – and this is the result,” Stevenson told the TVNZ Breakfast program. “They’ve beaten down Australian rugby for many, many years and the fans have too – it’s been rather infectious how we laughed at Australian rugby – and now Australian rugby is having a laugh back.”

Wallabies players drop off their luggage before boarding a bus after arriving in Christchurch last week. Picture: AFP

■Watch every match of the 2020 Bledisloe Cup & Rugby Championship Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly

He also claimed NZR had underestimated Australia’s response to being told that only two of their sides could compete in the trans-Tasman competition.

“We underestimated the umbrage they took with being told that. Had the boot been on the other foot, how would NZ have reacted?”

While the off-field battle between Australia and NZ is humming, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie insists there will be no excuses in the build-up to Bledisloe I on October 11 in Wellington. His side will spend today in individual isolation at a managed isolation facility in Christchurch but – assuming everyone passes the Covid test tomorrow – they will then be free to resume training as an entire team.

All 44 players are fit and available for selection, said Rennie, which effectively means Queensland outside centre Jordan Petaia’s hip flexor problem won’t keep him out of the Test.

Rennie is determined not to overload the players’ minds with too much information, striving for intensity on match day by prioritising what they need to know.

“We’ve got a lot of clarity,” he said. “There will be no excuses, we’ve got enough time to prepare.”