Rugby Australia talks stall after director falls ill

Rugby Australia remains confident an agreement over player pay cuts will be hammered out before next week, despite talks stalling.

No resolution was reached before the start of Easter, as planned discussions with the Rugby Union Players’ Association (RUPA) on Thursday were postponed, after a RA director fell ill.

Both sides are looking to advance the situation and will resume talks on Saturday morning.

RA are believed to have asked the players to take a 65 per cent pay cut until the end of September.

Mammoth cuts for Australian players?

Mammoth cuts for Australian players?

RUPA are still working their way through information-sharing and clarity on RA’s cash-flows, after last weekend receiving the details they had been asking for.

Players at three of the four Australian Super Rugby franchises are believed to be due payment shortly after the Easter break.

RA chief Raelene Castle has taken a 50 per cent pay cut and her executives, 30 per cent.

The cash-strapped governing body last week stood down 75 per cent of their non-player workforce, after announcing a $9.4 million loss.

Meanwhile ex-Wallabies skipper Stephen Moor said Australian rugby needs to be selfish and take a hard look at its involvement in Super Rugby.

Even before the coronavirus shutdown forced the suspension of the 25th season of Super Rugby, many were questioning whether the inter-continental competition was working for Australia amid dwindling crowds and television viewing figures.

Moore, a widely respected hooker who retired in 2017 after winning 129 caps, said his experience over the last three years had convinced him support for the game is waning and urgent action is required to address the disengagement of fans.

“We need to come up with what our professional offering looks like, and the Wallabies are obviously at the pinnacle of that, and Test rugby is the jewel of the crown for us,” Moore said in an interview with ESPN.

“But in terms of what that next tier looks like, whether it’s Super Rugby or a domestic competition, we need to make sure it suits Austr alian rugby and that’s really important.

“It needs to suit us from a high-performance point-of-view, it needs to suit us from a viewer and engagement standpoint. Get people back speaking positively about the game, enjoying the tribalism that has been around the game.

“And that’s why people are gravitating back to their clubs because that’s where they’re finding the tribalism.”