Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'There are cracks in their system and they need us more than ever'

(Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)

RA boss Hamish McLennan has doubled down on his criticism of the current Australia/New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific partnership, insisting the alliance has got to change if it is to have a future. It was in June when the RA CEO told Fox Sports that they were seriously considering ditching the NZR teams and creating their own tournament once the existing Super Rugby Pacific deal expires in 2023.

ADVERTISEMENT

McLennan claimed at the time that “all (RA) bets are off” with the NZR, a view that didn’t go down well on the other side of the Tasman. At the heart of the dispute is an imbalanced broadcast revenue split. Previously in Super Rugby. when teams from South Africa, Argentina and Japan were also involved, broadcast revenue was shared evenly between participating unions.

That, though, is no longer the case with Super Rugby Pacific as the NZR rakes in a reported $98million from its broadcast partner Sky, a figure that dwarfs the $36.3m deal that RA has with Channel Nine and Stan. This has led to sabre rattling in Australia, a stance that RA boss McLennan has now reiterated in a column in the latest edition of Rugby World magazine.

Video Spacer

Video Spacer

“We’re very open to an aligned global calendar in the men’s game and are talking to World Rugby about how best to achieve that end goal. As for Super Rugby, common sense will hopefully prevail, but for it to work it needs to be an equal partnership.

“Let’s not forget, Australia has a much larger economy and five times the population of New Zealand. It’s not been an equal partnership and gone are the days when New Zealand can dictate the terms of everything.

Related

”There are cracks in the system and they need us more than ever. We won’t participate unless it’s a 50-50 joint venture… I want to be able to build a strong rugby ecosystem that will live for a long, long time.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

1 Comment
W
Willie 811 days ago

"Australia has a much larger economy and 5 times the population" McLennan.
Shouldn't that be a case put to Stan and Nine, or have they already told RA their product is poor?
Rugby in Aust is on the edge of a crevasse and should not be throwing stones at the rescuer.
Reduce Aust teams to 3, hopefully become more competitive and then negotiate a better deal behind closed doors.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

E
Easy_Duzz-it 20 minutes ago
Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

The world never caught up the All Blacks just went backwards . After 2015 they had a plan to build the team around 2 players . Sam Cane and Beauden Barrett , Cane was hailed as the next Mccaw and Barrett the next carter . Unfortunately Cane sustained too many injures and Barrett despite being a great ball runner didn't have a high enough conversion rate or the game management skills to control the team and the game . Then to make matters worst , the selections were so bad year after year the forward pack became shockingly weak .

New Zealand had so much talent wasted betwen 2016 - 2023 . Laumape , elliot dixon , ben tamefuna , pita gus , ben lam , vaea fifita and so many other in form players that never got a look or the time to develop into great All Blacks .


Then you have the dual playmaker system that never worked , but they kept using it . why ? cause some men cant admit when they're wrong . thats the All Blacks between 2016-2023 . wrong coaches with the wrong vision , going in the wrong direction . now it appears the world caught up . but like I said the world never caught up . then you add the obvious flawed referee calls that happen to go against us more often then for us now . the worst of which that never gets called is when the opposition use rush defence but have players offside . this has been going for years , but who cares ? .


anyway its almost 10 and i need to get some shut eye .

Go the might All Blacks !!!!

14 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline? Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?
Search