Wednesday’s Rugby News has all the latest arbitration goss, Super Rugby refs, Pro14 shenanigans and the Wallaroos set off for Ireland.
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142 – 127 = 15
The ARU v Force showdown started yesterday, and the leading line from the Daily Telegraph is that it all revolves around 15 games.
The Force are arguing that the ARU made an agreement with them that runs until 2020, the end of the current broadcast deal – worth 135 season games and 7 finals each year.
The ARU are counter-arguing that the new broadcast deal, agreed upon by Sanzaar, is not the same. One way it isn’t the same is that the proposed 15-team Super comp will have 7 finals but only 120 season games each year.
Rugby WA, whose case is being led by former governor Malcolm McCusker, are saying that these two deals are virtually identical anyway, obviously minus the 3 less teams and 15 less games.
Billy P was there at the arbitration, being held in Sydney, as was general counsel Richard Hawkins and case leader dude, former Australian solicitor-general Justin Gleeson.
“While both WA Rugby and the ARU hope the arbitration hearing will be finished within three days, this case could drag on for months yet,” says the article.
“It has become apparent that if WA Rugby lose the arbitration hearing, they will take the case to the Supreme Court if they win a right of appeal.
“A lengthy legal battle could bleed dry the ARU, who are already in a financially perilous state.”
Meanwhile, the article also says that if the arbitration case fails, the possibility of axing the Rebels will hinge on whether the VRU – backed by the Victorian government – purchases the licence off owner Andrew Cox.
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Pied Peyper
Jaco Peyper will be the man whistling the tunes at the Super Rugby final on the weekend, in a refereeing team that will feature 3 South Africans.
Peyper, who came under controversy after a team from his country won a game against New Zealanders, will be joined by compatriots Marius van der Westhuizen (on the sidelines) and Marius Jonker (upstairs), with Kiwi Glen Jackson patrolling the other sideline.
“The selection criteria for all match official appointments for the last two years follows a clear tournament policy – as agreed by the SANZAAR Executive Committee and the tournament’s stakeholders – that such appointments be merit-based,” read a statement ascribed to Sanzaar chief Andy Marinos.
“This policy is written into the tournament protocols and appointments are made according to this policy on a weekly basis and is also the policy used for the finals last year as well as this year.
“This merit-based policy was reflected with the appointment last year of New Zealand referee Glen Jackson to referee the Hurricanes versus Lions final in Wellington. SANZAAR stands behind the policy and believes the best referees should be available to officiate the best matches,.”
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Pro14
The addition of the Southern Kings and Free State Cheetahs to the Wales + Scotland + Ireland + Italy Pro 12 was announced last night, making the competition the Pro 14. This is for the upcoming 2017/18 season, due to start quite soon.
The Pro12, which used to be run on very simple home-and-away season of 22 games each, before splitting into 4-team finals series, will now morph into a far more sensible conference system.
Now, the comp will have 2 conferences of 7 with each conference having an even split of teams per country (so 2 each from Wales, 1 from Scotland, and so on).
Each conference will have a 14-game round of home-and-away matches, before each team plays all the other teams from the other conference once each. And then, because fuck it why not, there’ll be an extra derby round.
Ain’t done yet. The finals system will now use 6 teams. And because South African teams aren’t allowed to play in the European competition, their place will be taken by the next best-placed team.
It’s all good though, because the two Saffer teams will bring in an extra of £6m a year.
“The arrival of the Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings marks a bold and exciting new chapter for the Guinness PRO14 as a global rugby Championship,” said Pro14 chief executive Martin Anayi (via the BBC).
“South Africa is a rugby powerhouse of over 55 million people. These teams already operate to the high standards demanded by Super Rugby and they will add to the quality of our tournament.
“This is a natural evolution for the Championship… and we aim to be at the forefront of the game’s growth around the world.”
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Wallaroos
The Wallaroos signed off in Sydney today, before they fly out to Dublin to appear in the 2017 Women’s World Cup, where like all Australian rugby teams, they’ll get the opportunity to get battered by New Zealand.
Most of the Wallaroos won’t be paid a cent to appear in this World Cup, with many of the team taking time of their jobs to take part. Which is actually really admirable.
The ARU will be paying for everything – flights, accommodation, food and all else – but can’t afford to pay the players match fees. The ARU, according to this SMH article, bleeds $500k a year funding the Wallaroos.
“The reason,” says the article, “is because there is little return on investment for the ARU given they do not get a slice of the broadcast revenue.
“Most female players have had to take annual leave for the tournament and some will not be paid for close to a month.”
But it’s slightly ok, after all-round bonza sheila Josephine Sukkar, co-founder of Buildcorp, gave each member of the team $1000 to soothe over their financial sores. Those donations will go hand-in-hand with the $200k the Australian Rugby Foundation gave the Wallaroos’ program this year.
Buildcorp, if you’ve forgotten, pulled out of funding the NRC due to inaction over promises of the ARU to make a women’s 15s comp.
Apart from the financial news, captain Shannon Parry revealed her confidence in the side.
“Teams haven’t seen a lot of us,” Parry said. “We’ve got a lot of intel and analysis that’s been done on those Six Nations teams.
“We are going in there as underdogs and we’re not shying away from that but that’s something that all Aussie teams thrive off. The only pressure we put on ourselves is that; the pressure I put on myself.
“For us, all the pressure is on them [Ireland]. We’ve got to get out early, control that crowd and anything can happen out there.”
The Women’s World Cup is a 12-team affair. Australia is in Group C, joined by hosts Ireland, as well as France and Japan.
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