There is a very good chance that the latest comments out of Rugby Australia regarding the future of Super Rugby Pacific are nothing more than posturing.
Chairman Hamish McLennan recently told Fox Sports that Australia will honour the current broadcasting deal, which is set to end following next year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition. Beyond that, however, “all bets are off”.
McLennan’s comments were widely reported, widely interpreted as a serious indication that RA will consider breaking away from their relationship with their counterpart in Aotearoa – and widely criticised too – but could have just as easily been brushed aside as slightly garrulous confirmation of the current agreement with New Zealand Rugby, due to end in 2023.
Further words from the chairman suggest there may be some truth to the rumblings of a coup, however, and that RA are seriously contemplating a brave new world without NZR as their number one partner.
“Bring it on,” McLennan told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I was laughing about [the criticism from around the world]. It didn’t worry me at all.
“Those guys are not privy to the actions of NZR in recent times. Their aggressive reaction towards Australia perhaps shows why they are not good partners. They have reacted so violently when we’ve honoured their two-year deal.”
While the safe money would be on the two unions eventually overcoming their differences and forging ahead into the future, there are no guarantees. Whether NZR is willing to call McLennan’s bluff, however, comes down to what kind of structure the two governing bodies could expect to move forward with if the two nations head their separate ways.
