Western Force the silver lining as Rugby Australia flails for the light

Rugby has entirely lost control of its message. It is projecting no strength whatever, either to its domestic audience or internationally.

Byron Ralston in action for Western Force in a practice match against Eastwood in Perth in February. Picture: Getty Images

Australian rugby faces one of the most vital weeks in its existence … now, where have we heard that ­before?

Exactly the same thing was said at the start of last week, where we started out with Peter Wiggs as the incoming Rugby Australia chairman and Matt Carroll as the likely chief executive. But the week ended with Paul McLean still running the show and Rob Clarke as RA CEO, albeit both on an interim basis.

And now here we are again, about to begin off another breathless week in which RA finally will open up its financial records, telling us in precise details just how sorry a tale it is facing, and with a new man being tailored for the chairman’s robes, Hamish McLennan. It was said on Friday McLennan would be taking time to himself over the weekend to consider the job. A wise man might have thought: Well, that gives me two days to head for the hills before they realise I’m missing.

Each week is “vital” and so the word loses all currency and credibility. Let’s just agree this week is important and take it from there.

Rugby has entirely lost control of its message. It is projecting no strength whatever, either to its domestic audience or internationally. Of itself, that is a massive problem, with this line appearing in the New Zealand Herald’s main rugby story on Saturday: “I think we have to ignore Australia because it is too much of a variable.”

It was said in the context of a story that NZ Rugby was weighing up whether to go down the private equity path and, if so, with what partner. An NZR source was being cited. Rugby Australia, too, was said to be holding talks with private equity firms but its “shambolic” instability meant that even its closest ally was wary of it and that, like a drunken uncle at a wedding, Australia could at any moment topple over and embarrass everyone. It was too tipsy to be trusted …

If this continues for much longer, how soon will it be before World Rugby loses faith that Australia really is a sure pair of hands to entrust with the 2027 World Cup and quietly organises another host nation? How long will it be, indeed, before the British and Irish Lions baulks at sending its team Down Under in 2025 and starts exploring all its other options?

Though they are some way into the future, those two events have the financial power to rescue Australian rugby from the mire but a fat lot of good they will do if RA implodes before then. So McLennan, assuming he assumes the role of chairman, must seize the day and control the message.

It won’t be easy. In fact, it will be hellishly difficult. All the obvious contenders for the television rights have withdrawn and even if Fox is playing a blindingly clever game and plans to make an 11th hour bid — which, given McLennan’s close links with News Corp is not entirely out of the question — one wonders what sort of offer it would bring to the table. Could it possibly be enough to sustain the four Super Rugby teams in their present guise? More on this a little later.

If RA finds itself short, will it be prepared to do a deal with the devil and follow the Six Nations and, it seems, New Zealand, down the private equity rabbit warren?

“If everybody could win out of that, it can be a legitimate strategy but I think it needs to be treated with caution,” Clarke told The Australian on Sunday.

Of course, just backtracking a little, RA still doesn’t have a clue what type of product it can offer to broadcasters next year. Clarke admits he is actually looking forward to diving into the problem and perhaps arriving at a solution that may have been put forward in the past as a preferred option but, for political reasons, was rejected. That sounds awfully like a trans-Tasman competition — plus extras — although Clarke is too much the diplomat to verbalise any such thoughts.

There may, as well, be an “Australian club championship” built into the solution, although Clarke stopped well short of acknowledging that this would take the place of some manner of Super Rugby competition.

“No,” he said. “Super Rugby clubs are a critically important pathway and will remain that way but in exactly what competition format and what structure? I think we have the opportunity to review that in great detail … (it is) being forced on us by the coronavirus.”

Yet out of all this chaos — brought about by rugby types having way too much time on their hands — one wondrous gift is set to appear. The Western Force are likely to make their return to the main stage of Australian rugby. Had it not been for COVID-19, this would never have happened, not now at least.

No one knows whether they are just making a cameo visit or whether, in this confusing mish-mash of events, they may be here to stay. And so Tim Sampson, the Western Force coach, is preparing his side to do the only thing it can do under the circumstances.

“Whatever competition it is, whenever we play, we will be ready to rumble!”Whatever ditch Super Rugby might have plunged into while its SANZAAR administrators were asleep at the wheel, it is still the highest standard provincial competition in the world. And the Western Force, through no fault of their own, have had to watch Super Rugby from the sidelines for the past two and a half years.

Just about any other club would have withered and died, but the Force, thanks in part to Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola and Global Rapid Rugby, but mainly to the fighting spirit of West Australians, have done so much more than simply stay alive. They have emerged as the beating heart of Australian rugby.

So when Sampson says, not boastfully but with quiet, thoughtful reason, that his side will be competitive with the best the east coast has to offer, one tends to believe him.

And that week in July when the Force turn out for their first “Super Rugby” match since they beat the Waratahs 40-11 on July 15, 2017 … now that truly will be a vital week in Australian rugby history.