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OPINION: The blame game is in full swing as the government and New Zealand Rugby point the finger at each other for failing to win the Rugby Championship.
Both parties will relax in the coming days as they realize the futility of that exercise, and the more NZ Rugby complains about the government’s inflexibility, the more its lack of influence at the government level becomes illuminated.
Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images
Rugby Australia Acting Chief Executive Officer Rob Clarke and Rugby Australia President Hamish McLennan pose in Sydney after winning the race to host the Rugby Championship.
But frankly, both sides are in danger of looking like younger siblings fighting and complaining about the injustice of life as they watch their older brother walk out of the driveway to a party.
The bigger picture here is Rugby Australia’s resurgence as a player just months after being seen as weak enough to have to complete expressions of interest to simply participate in a New Zealand Rugby Super competition.
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* Clash or Clash in Attempt: The Strategy Behind Hamish McLennan’s Rugby Australia Power Play
* Rugby Australia President Hamish McLennan tells NZ: The ball is in your court
That strategy is surely over, with NZ Rugby coming to terms with the reality that Australia is better as an ally or partner than as a rival.
Indeed, the Rugby Championship run emphasized elements of Rugby Australia’s argument to NZ Rugby that it should have partner status in any future Super Rugby competition.
Australia know their influence on rugby has waned, but they have gone to great lengths to emphasize its greater economy and potential.
The veiled threat was that NZ Rugby would be shooting itself in the feet if it pushed away a country with greater commercial opportunities and a history of strong support for the sport from governments of all political persuasions.
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The Wallabies enjoyed a rare victory against the All Blacks in Perth last year, and Rugby Australia is now enjoying another victory.
It is an argument that resonates strongly today.
The other factor that is becoming apparent is that Rugby Australia President Hamish McLennan is a formidable adversary for NZ Rugby.
In conversation, McLennan drops the dazzling more than $ 100 million he helped put into the Big Bash cricket competition – and unsolicited calls from private equity giants – without a shred of doubt.
Some of his ideas, like a draft to bring unwanted Kiwi Super Rugby players into the Australian system, are dubious, but this is a guy completely at home in the world of big deals, and with a complete lack of awe when it comes to about. to NZ Rugby.
It is also well connected, including in New Zealand, giving Rugby Australia the confidence to make claims about NZ Rugby’s board-level disagreement over the direction of Super Rugby, denied by NZ Rugby, and even the preference of Sky for a trans-Tasmanian competition.
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Rugby Australia President Hamish McLennan has shown his willingness to bring the fight to New Zealand.
You do not make such claims unless you have access to the right people at NZ Rugby or Sky.
In terms of the blame game, the back and forth between NZ Rugby and the government will not produce a winner because the reasons why New Zealand “lost” the Rugby Championship are simple and complex.
Simple, because despite what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, New Zealand’s more conservative quarantine requirements were a factor in Sanzaar’s decision, particularly in relation to the Springboks.
Complex, however, because New Zealand and Australia’s economic size and governance systems are so different that New Zealand rarely competes on an equal footing.
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NZ Rugby boss Mark Robinson was correct in identifying border controls as the reason New Zealand lost the Rugby Championship, but a war of words with the government would ultimately backfire.
Australia’s state governments fight like hungry hyenas over sporting events, so when they learned that the Rugby Championship was at stake, they would have moved quickly, put money on the table, and been prepared to live with a risk profile. higher than New Zealand.
It would be no surprise if they had offered to cover some quarantine or accommodation costs that would have otherwise come out of Sanzaar’s pockets – we would be in a state of self-deception to think that the quarantine was the only carrot the Australians produced.
It’s the kind of approach that will become apparent as Australia strives to host the Rugby World Cup in 2027, two years after hosting the British and Irish Lions, two more events that will strengthen Australian rugby.
The ‘big brother’ on the other side of the ditch is not yet ready to be dictated.
