Kiwi ‘arrogance’ prompts Super re-think

Australia’s Super Rugby franchises are investigating whether to invite New Zealand into a 10-team competition featuring five teams from each country.

Jack Maddocks at Waratahs training on Tuesday. The Australian Super Rugby franchises are investigating whether to invite New Zealand to a new domestic competition Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s Super Rugby franchises are investigating whether to flip the entire 2021 trans-Tasman competition conversation on its head and invite New Zealand into a 10-team competition featuring five teams from each country.

New Zealand Rugby seemingly set the agenda when it announced last Friday that it would be staging an eight-to-ten team competition next season, with room for between two and four Australian franchises, and then invited the franchises on this side of the Tasman to submit expressions of interest.

Rugby Australia has taken offence with the Kiwi approach, claiming that when the Kiwis showed up for a Zoom meeting on Monday to talk about “expressions of interest” all they heard from them were “expression of insolence”. But RA is still intent on working with New Zealand and, with the board meeting on Monday reaffirming its support of chairman Hamish McLennan’s approach, is attempting to convince the Kiwis that dictating terms to Australia is simply not the way to go.

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That opinion is gathering pace, with the Daily Mail of England’s rugby writer, Chris Foy, writing scathingly of New Zealand’s arrogance in the way it is “assisting” Australia – by offering a guarantee of two Australian teams only in their competition, with three franchises presumably to be culled.

“At a time when the game needs unity and co-operation, NZR has adopted a very different approach – brandishing a smug superiority complex in the face of struggling neighbours,” Foy wrote. “Whatever happens in the weeks and months ahead, in the restructuring of southern hemisphere competitions, Australia probably won’t forget the attitude of their Kiwi counterparts.”

The belief is that while NZR chairman Brent Impey and members of the board in New Zealand are determined to play hard ball with Australia and make only two, possibly three spots available for them, there is apparently a significant group below the board who strongly favour forging robust links with Australia where next year’s competition is concerned.

There was a healthy degree of scepticism on Tuesday night regarding the viability of the Australian competition – which would surely have to be underwritten by private equity funds – but the idea was not entirely disowned.

An RA spokesman would confirm only that the various Australian Super Rugby franchises were exploring the option of their own competition, with all five NZ teams to be invited. And a check of the various states indicated that something was afoot.

“The talk today was that we would invite the New Zealand clubs to participate in our competition,” said NSWRU chairman Roger Davis. “It would obviously be on the basis of five plus five but they bypassed Rugby Australia when they extended their invitation and asked for eligibility criteria to be provided, so we might very well do the same thing to them and see how they like it.

“We’ve discussed it and we have also discussed it with Rugby Australia. It’s a very interesting idea and we are trying to move away from the “master-servant” relationship and maybe tip it on its head.

“Certainly the Super Rugby sides are keen on five plus five. A five-team competition is not economic, nor is a 10-team competition economic. You need a 12-team Super Rugby competition to be economic.

“They are in exactly the same boat as we are. You have to have a home semi to make money. I understand that the (NZR) board is divided with Impey representing the status quo or establishment.

“It is going to be very interesting to see what happens there.’’