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Sam Bruce, Deputy Editor, espn.com.au
Rugby Australia brought multiple stakeholders together in Melbourne for a two-day summit to map out a long-term strategic vision for the game as concerns grow the governing body could soon wind up in court over its dispute with Melbourne Rebels and Rugby Victoria.
Stakeholders from across the Australian rugby spectrum gathered in the Victorian capital after Super Round, where all 12 Super Rugby Pacific teams contested fixtures over the weekend.
But while it was good news on the field, where five of the six games were fought into the final 10 minutes, and the Waratahs pulled off a morale-boosting upset over the Crusaders, RA’s ugly dispute with the Rebels only further deteriorated.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Rebels have given RA officials until 5pm Wednesday to agree to meet for talks as the franchise fights for its longer-term survival amid $22m in debt. About half of that is owed to the Australian Tax Office, while other creditors, including several former Rebels board members, are hoping to recoup funds they believe RA is liable for.
Multiple media reports suggest club officials have threatened legal action if RA does not agree to stump up for a portion of the franchise’s debts.
RA reclaimed the Rebels license earlier this year, and has since made sweeping changes at the organization including a variety of redundancy packages, including now-former chief executive Baden Stephenson, while also putting the remaining club staff on four-month contracts.
RA has only guaranteed the Rebels’ future through to the end of the 2024 season, with strong speculation the club will be wound up thereafter.
But Rebels and Rugby Victoria officials are not going quietly, and strongly believe that RA is itself liable for a significant portion of the franchise’s debt, due to reductions in funding from head office during the COVID-19 pandemic and other alleged promises about cash injections that would have eventuated had RA achieved private equity investment last year.
But that did not eventuate and RA instead chose to take on an $80m debt facility with Pacific Equity Partners, a deal which reportedly carries a 12% interest rate.
If RA does not agree to meet with the Rebels the two parties appear destined for a showdown in court in a situation akin to that in which engulfed Australian rugby back in 2017 when the Western Force was banished from Super Rugby.
An RA spokesperson confirmed employees from the Rebels and Rugby Victoria still attended the two-day summit.
Stakeholders from Australia’s other four franchises were meanwhile in attendance, so too the Rugby Union Players Association, and other member unions as RA hopes to achieve some sort of alignment ahead of its “golden decade” of events that includes next year’s British & Irish Lions Tour, two Rugby World Cups, and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
RA’s debt facility was taken out so that the game could chart its current financials headwinds but then reap the benefits and expected financial windfalls of consecutive major rugby events.
RA boss Phil Waugh, who remains committed to his goal of centralization and ensuring that Australian rugby exists within its means, said the summit was about agreeing on a list of common aspirations for the game in Australia.
“This runway presents a once-in-a generation opportunity to set the game up for the future, and it is important that as a collective we have a common understanding of where Australian Rugby is at – this summit represents the first step in rebuilding the game together.
“During the summit, we focused on ensuring we all had a clear and unfiltered understanding of the state of the game, and on framing our common aspirations for the future of Rugby in Australia.
“As we work through this process, it is especially critical that the game seeks input from a wide variety of its stakeholders around the country – from the community level, through to our Super Rugby clubs, and on to our national team programs, and we had representatives from each of those levels at this summit.
“These people own the game, and they should have ownership of the strategy – it is not up to us to dictate, but to work with everyone to lead and deliver a thriving game for all.
“We want to accelerate the conversations on how we are tackling the big questions facing the game – from how the game becomes more connected from the community game to the elite level, to what do our competition, high-performance, pathways and organisational structures need to look like to deliver success on and off the field.”
The summit resulted in four key pillars being establishing for Australian rugby, those being:
Performance – Driving on-field performance and success of teams in gold
Participation – Growing participation and connection across Australia and creating thriving club, school and local communities.
Promotion – Growing and effectively engaging with local and global audiences, both attending and watching on screens.
Resourcing – Creating a financially sustainable game to maximise the opportunities ahead of us.
The Waratahs, who are also rumoured to be in significant debt, though not to the same level as the Rebels, committed to RA’s plan for centralization last year. They were also not a part of the coup that saw former RA chairman Hamish McLennan ousted in December and later resulted in former Wallabies centre Daniel Herbert stepping into the chair role.
Waratahs CEO Paul Doorn said the summit had been a success.
“The summit was a positive step forward for Australian rugby, for both the professional and community game. “The summit set a clear direction for what we need to achieve for success at every level.”
Queensland Reds boss David Hanham, who have not yet agreed to centralization and were a signature of the letter that called for McLennan’s resignation, also hailed the summit as a positive step forward.
“It was an important milestone to have the Member Unions and Super Rugby Clubs together in one room to build out our collective aspiration and priorities for the game’s future. “We have identified an agreed process to move the game forward together, but importantly we are now at the doorstep of a transformational opportunity to deliver sustained success on and off the field. The golden runway of major events to leverage at all levels couldn’t be any better.”
Western Force chief executive Niamh O’Connor also agreed the summit had resulted in positive outcomes, saying: “We have had a very productive and future focused summit. “We now have a plan and a path to lead rugby in Australia in a positive sustainable trajectory into the future.”
The Brumbies were not quoted as part of a RA media release, but a club spokesperson told ESPN the club had nothing to add at this time and were instead focused on delivering the team’s first home game against the Force this weekend.
Meanwhile, the Australian rugby community continues to wait for the results of a review into the Wallabies’ failed World Cup campaign, which has already been presented to the RA board. The report was being held back until new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt and director of high performance Peter Horne.