Echoes of Racing-Stade merger in Western Force's fight for Super Rugby survival

There is something familiar about Western Force’s fight for Super Rugby survival following SANZAAR’s decision to cull three franchises from next season’s competition, writes James Harrington.

Although no decision has been made public, the Force are favourites for the chop next year, when the Australian Super Rugby conference contracts from five teams to four. The situation is oddly reminiscent of the recent abortive merger between Top 14 sides Racing 92 and Stade Français, and that did not end well. Actually, that’s not true – it has not ended at all.

On March 13, the websites of Racing 92 and Stade Francais suddenly declared the two clubs would merge from next season. No one, beyond those involved in the negotiations that must have taken place, had any inkling this bomb was about to drop. This was, right up to the announcement, the best-kept secret in rugby.

SANZAAR’s announcement came shortly after a 12-try thriller involving two franchises in danger of extinction. This was the worst-kept secret in rugby and the April 9 statement merely confirmed a plan that had been sweated over for weeks.

The fallout in Australia has been messy. The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) quickly identified Western Force or Melbourne Rebels as its either/or sacrificial side of choice, and said its consultation would last no more than 72 hours. That timescale was clearly ambitious and the union was forced into a rapid and embarrassing about-turn amid the threat of legal challenges.

There is currently no public deadline for the two clubs to state their cases for survival. It may happen next week. It may not. In the meantime, the ARU – as the two French clubs were a month ago – has found itself firmly on the back foot.

Read more: Western Force slam ARU as Super Rugby place hangs in balance

Western Force issued a writ saying it will challenge in court any attempt to remove its Super Rugby licence. The Western Australian government demanded the ARU “uphold its end of the bargain” to ensure the Force’s survival, after taxpayers funded a $100m upgrade of the Perth Oval to accommodate the Super Rugby side.

The Rebels’ owners would surely expect hefty compensation if the Melbourne club, the only privately owned franchise in Australian Super Rugby, is axed. Some reports suggest that they may be willing to hand in their licence. Those reports don’t say at what cost.

A month ago in France, less than 24 hours after the Racing-Stade merger was unveiled, the plan was teetering. Players had called an indefinite strike. A protest was held at Stade Français’ relatively recently refurbished Stade Jean-Bouin. City Hall in Paris demanded assurances over the future of the stadium, which it had paid €160m to revamp. Authorities in Hauts-de-Seine wanted answers to expensive-sounding questions from Racing 92.

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The possibility of a player strike in Australia was suggested in the lengthy period between SANZAAR announcing a Super Rugby shake-up was in the offing and the announcement of the details of that shake-up – though the players’ union RUPA said its hands are tied until a collective bargaining agreement ends on December 31.

A strike may be possible in the next pre-season, though it remains to be seen how strong that player agreement will be once the franchise to be axed is identified.

In fact, as the Force and the Rebels fight for their futures, RUPA is incensed that an already long-winded process is extending out of control. While contracted players at whichever club is culled will be able to see out their deals at other clubs of their choice, as many as 30 will be out of contract at the end of this season. Their futures are uncertain.

Read more: June deadline as South Africa prepares to cut Super Rugby franchises

The ARU has told the country’s other four Super Rugby clubs not to enter negotiations with players who are not Australian internationals until the shape of next season’s competition is confirmed.

That looks set to take some time, and makes overseas interest – notably from moneybags European clubs – even more attractive to those players whose contracts are up, says RUPA. Super Rugby does not need the talent drain to worsen as it looks to consolidate.

More echoes. At the press conference in Paris, Racing president Jacky Lorenzetti said that the two clubs’ playing staff of about 90 would be trimmed to 45 – with a bias in favour of younger, French-qualified players. Suddenly, up 90 players including big-name internationals, were dusting off their resumes, just in case they were on the cut list. And the French players’ union accused the clubs of ‘betrayal’.

Stade have suffered. Eleven players – including big names Rabah Slimani, Jono Ross, Jérémy Sinzelle and Hugo Bonneval – will leave at the end of the season. Another eight are out of contract, while only three have arrived and two of those are young players on development deals. They will find next season a slog.

Read more: Super Rugby right to cull numbers – White

Racing’s plans, too, have taken a knock at a time they need to attract fans as they prepare to move into their new U Arena home. The ‘grand fusion’ with Stade would have meant an embarrassment of playing riches for the superclub’s coaches to pick over. With the merger cancelled, between 10 and 12 players are set to leave, and there are so far only five reported arrivals. Rebuilding could take several years that the club – not to mention billionaire Lorenzetti’s bank balance – do not need.

Whichever Australian franchise survives, their player pool will take a hit. Those out-of-contract players will not hang around forever in hope as delays on the decisions that affect their future extend. The franchise will be an easy target for doubters and naysayers as it fights to rebuild.

In France, six days after the announcement, the Racing-Stade merger was officially off. An open letter on Racing’s website said that club president Lorenzetti had walked away from the deal, declaring it to be “the right thing too soon.”

There were legitimate and urgent business reasons behind the decision. This was a barely concealed (and to many barely acceptable) rescue package for Stade Francais, whose owner has wanted out for some time but who has been unable to sell a club that has little in the way of assets and a lot in the way of debts. It was an admission that at least one of the clubs was fast running out of means to live beyond.

Read more: Matt Hodgson: The beating heart behind the business case

The ripples it caused are still being felt. While a legal battle in Australia exists only as a point on a probability curve, in Paris the courts have already been involved, asked to rule this week rule on whether matches that were postponed at the time should be rearranged or forfeited.

The court ruled that the matches should be rearranged, meaning Stade will play two crucial Top 14 games in the week leading up to their European Challenge Cup semifinal, while Racing 92 will play Montpellier on the European weekend.

The FFR and LNR have used the entire sorry merger saga as an excuse to air all kinds of dirty laundry, from central contracts to which one of them actually rules the French rugby roost. In recent years the LNR has effectively enjoyed free rein, while the suits at the FFR basked in the reflected golden glory of the world’s richest league, even as the national side withered on the international stage.

But new president Laporte wants his authority back. And he wants the union and the national side to come first. What happens next, and who blinks first, will shape French rugby for years.

Equally, there are legitimate and urgent business reasons for Super Rugby to contract and consolidate. The 18-team format is bloated, unwieldy and confusing. Outside New Zealand, the standard of rugby is not great.

Fans and TV audiences are staying away. It’s a case of cull or collapse. This is a rescue package for a league that was, until recently, the very best in the world but has become overdiluted. It’s an admission that the last expansion failed.

However, as in the north, so in the south, a spat is brewing. The ARU has criticised the NZRU for not going along with plans for a trans-Tasman tournament that would have protected all five Australian Super Rugby franchises – but which would have left the tournament’s TV cash cow South Africa out in the cold.

Unlike the French clubs, SANZAAR and the unions will not cave. They cannot afford to. Rugby cannot afford them to. Rather more rests on the fate of this decision than the future of two rugby clubs in one city in one country.

Unfortunately, business decisions do not always sit well in the romantic world of sport.

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