New Zealand plan raises hopes for all five Australian rugby teams

New Zealand Rugby’s announcement has raised hopes that the five Rugby Australia franchises can survive.

NSW’s Jack Maddocks is airborne after being ankle tapped against Western Force last week. Both teams are expected to take part in a trans-Tasman competition next season. Picture: Getty Images

New Zealand Rugby’s announcement on Friday that it was hoping for a Super Rugby competition of between “eight and 10 teams” next year has raised hopes that all five Rugby Australia franchises can survive but that may only happen if the planned Pasifika team is put on hold until 2022.

The announcement leaves open the possibility that the Kiwis might still insist on having only two or three Australian sides in next year’s competition but the fact the NZ communique specifically left open the possibility of 10 teams suggests trans-Tasman relations are beginning to thaw.

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Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan not surprisingly is hoping that, despite the fact that Australian teams are not up to NZ’s superb form, the four Super Rugby sides – Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels – plus the Andrew Forrest-backed Western Force will have the chance to play in the competition and raise their standards.

Part of that improvement is likely to come from Rugby Australia throwing the door open to foreign imports from South Africa and Argentina, although an obvious source of players would be if NZ allowed its overflow footballers to play with Australian sides without losing their All Blacks eligibility.

“It is early days but I think we have an opportunity to create something special and world-class and clearly the Kiwis have put a lot of thought into it,” McLennan told The Weekend Australian.

The more Australian teams that take part in the competition, the more attractive the series will be to Fox Sports. A broadcast deal still has to be negotiated but, with Fox Sports having always declared their strongest preference was for a trans-Tasman competition and if Australia is now able to negotiate five teams it would be a triumph.

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. Picture: John Feder

While it is understood that Australia and NZ both are strongly supportive of the Pasifika team’s involvement, COVID-19 restrictions, infrastructure problems with television broadcast from the islands and the fact that the team would need to be up and running within a couple of months means its entry could be delayed until 2022.

“There is a huge desire to have a Pasifika team involved which we think will be massive for the competition, popular with fans and is a priority for us,” said Mark Robinson, the chief executive of New Zealand Rugby.

However, it is understood that there now are growing concerns that the large Islander population in Auckland could impact on the Blues’ fan base if the team is based there. If that fear is realised, it is possible that the Pasifika team might even be based in Sydney.

A fortnight ago, New Zealand was set to announce an eight-team competition – five NZ, two Australian and the Pasifika team – on a take it or leave it basis. Were that to eventuate, there is little doubt that Australia would turn its back on the NZ competition and set about organising its own domestic competition, albeit with heavy foreign player content.

Now there is at least the possibility of a 10-team configuration made up of five Kiwi and Australian sides, with the Pasifika team to make their way into the competition in another 18 months.

But if four is the upper limit to which New Zealand can be pushed, then Rugby Australia would face an invidious decision – whether to jettison a side, merge two teams or turn its back on New Zealand and organise a domestic competition of its own.

Robinson said the NZR would be working with Rugby Australia “to seek expressions of interest from their current Super clubs and other interested parties to join the competition and that work will begin in earnest.”

RA on Friday released a statement acknowledging the NZR announcement and promising to work constructively with the Kiwis in the coming weeks. It would, as well, continue its discussions with stakeholders in Australia along with its SANZAAR joint venture partners.

“Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rugby Australia recognises that there is a need to review the sustainability and practicality of the current Super Rugby competition and consider alternative models that are in the best interests of Australian Rugby from 2021 and beyond,” the statement concluded.

The most important words in the statement would seem to be “in the best interests of Australian rugby from 2021 and beyond”. Rugby Australia attracted so much flak over its 2017 decision to cull the Western Force from Super Rugby that it would not lightly go down the road of trimming another franchise.

Ironically, the Force now appears almost as safe as the powerhouse states of NSW and Queensland. They have returned to the Super Rugby AU competition and Rugby Australia has indicated that, with Perth billionaire Forrest now funding the Force, the club can look forward to whatever competition mainstream Australian rugby participates in.