‘A concern for everyone’: Rugby Australia boss puts Waratahs on notice

Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos has labelled the Waratahs’ sharp decline “a concern for everyone” and promised every effort will be made to reverse a string of below-par performances.

It comes as Marinos revealed that teams could be put into a hub in either Australia or New Zealand for Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, that the France Test series could be pushed back two weeks and that Australia is getting on the front foot to potentially host the Rugby Championship.

The Waratahs have slumped to four straight losses to start the Super Rugby AU season.Credit: Getty

Speaking at the launch of the Aon Uni 7s, where some of Australia’s female athletes will get much-needed game time ahead of the Tokyo Olympics – the tournament begins this weekend – Marinos was quizzed about Super Rugby AU at the halfway mark of the competition.

The game’s new boss said he had been impressed in general but, without being prompted, touched on the delicate situation at NSW, which has seen Rob Penney’s side lose four matches in a row by an average margin of 27 points.

“There have been some unfortunate performances and that’s been well documented,” Marinos said. “The Waratahs have been struggling this year and that’s obviously a concern for everyone.

“A big market like this when they’ve not been performing, it will have an impact. At the same time there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes at all the clubs, but probably more so here at the Waratahs for them to get their season and their games back on track.”

Every member of the Wallabies coaching staff have made their way to NSW’s headquarters at Daceyville at some point in recent weeks for visits, with head coach Dave Rennie and director of rugby Scott Johnson the biggest names trying to help out. The Waratahs face the Queensland Reds on Saturday in Sydney.

Marinos stressed that the other Australian teams were performing well, but made it clear something needed to be done to help the Waratahs reverse a horror start to the year.

“We’ll continue to share and help where we can, to make sure that they get back to where they need to get back to,” Marinos said. “At the same time, the Brumbies, Force, Rebels and Reds have all put in some really good displays and the games have been really compelling.”

The Reds celebrate victory over the Rebels on their way to four straight wins and top spot on the Super Rugby AU ladder.Credit: Getty

The bad news for the Waratahs is that they are looking increasingly likely to face all five Kiwi teams in a five-week block beginning on May 14.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to make an announcement on April 6 regarding border restrictions and provided a trans-Tasman bubble is given the light, Marinos said it was “all systems go” for the crossover tournament.

If not, a player hub has been discussed in either Australia or New Zealand, while no decision has been made about whether a “Super Round”, with all 10 teams in the same city, will go ahead.

“We’d certainly be very keen to see if we can hub teams in either of the countries,” said Marinos of a back-up plan.

As for the three-Test series against France, the world No.3 team could travel to Australia in “two batches or one” given the Top 14 final is slated for June 26 and will have some top players involved.

“We may have to have the first [Test] either on the 10th or the 17th of July,” Marinos said. “That’s part of ongoing discussions with them and also trying to understand the impact of how many players in the current French team will be playing in those teams that get to the [Top 14] finals.”

Meanwhile, Marinos said early discussions had begun about the Rugby Championship. He indicated Australia was keen to host New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, having done so during the newly formed Tri Nations last year, which did not feature the Springboks.

“I think we’ve all resigned ourselves to the fact that we’re probably going to be in a bubble in some way, shape or form,” Marinos said. “We’re going to go through a process in determining where that needs to be.

“From an Australian point of view, we successfully hosted the Tri Nations last year on a very short turnaround. Our request to SANZAAR is let’s get ahead of the game a lot earlier and be able to build a proper model.

“I think there’s a fair appetite that we can see whether essentially hosting it here in Australia again is an option and something that we’ll put a lot of effort into.”