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When the dust settles, SANZAR should be the first organisation disbanded. With the impending demise of the pan-continental Super Rugby model it's an even more unnecessary bureaucracy than it ever was. Any champions league type competition and international fixtures could certainly be arranged without...

It seems increasingly likely that the level below the Wallabies will be semi-professional. That being the case then both Super Rugby and TT are off the table as it simply isn't viable to be flying semi-pro teams to and from NZ on a week to week basis with all the expense that involves. In this scenario...

Well we know that SRA games rated in Australia at about the same level that Kiwi derbies did in Super Rugby, which is much less that former Super Rugby games involving an Australian team. IMO a TT doesn't allow for enough Australian games, particularly Aus v Aus games for an Australian audience. This...

That's right, everybody wins. Everybody walks away with their previous preferences confirmed. Nobody watches it and suddenly transforms from a league to a union fanatic or vice versa. It's purely an income generating novelty event.

I don't think that the money is there for whatever product emerges, whether that product is Super Rugby involving Sth Africa, TT or purely domestic. I think that the players have worked out that below the Wallabies the next level i.e. Super Rugby will end up being semi-pro. The money just isn't there. But...

Hmmm. Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said it would be "quite exciting" to see New Zealand rugby's finest doing battle with the Australian Kangaroos - but the hybrid concept would only succeed if proper rules were thrashed out. Hansen offered his view about the proposed cross code clash...

The players have sensed it and as I have been saying for a few weeks now, it's highly unlikely that the middle level of pro players are going to receive anything like what they are used to. Other than the top flight Wallabies the rest will end up semi-pro regardless of what the competition...

It would seem that reality is starting to hit regarding the likely income for RA and it's ability to only pay a limited number of players anything like they are on now. But bigger problems loom for the game, which does not yet have a competition structure for Super Rugby - or whatever takes...

Reading between the lines, it would seem that NZRU and NRL are both keen on the ABs v Kangaroos and only agreement on the finer details of laws/rules stand in the way. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/all-blacks-coaches-open-to-roos-clash-but-rules-all-important-20200626-p556ip.html

In big unions this has some validity, but not really in this case. RUPA would have a couple of hundred members at most and would be in regular contact with their leader/leaders. Harrison may well be the strategic brains behind the strategy, but I think it's fanciful to suggest that he doesn't...

35 second shot clock. Can't remember if this was 35 seconds to get out of you own half or 35 seconds overall. According to the Steve Hansen suggested rules/laws for this one there would be a rugby contest for possession at the tackle and after 8 rucks/mauls possession would change unless the...

Except that the money isn't coming back in the next 4-5 years. RA is unlikely to be in a financial position to offer the wages that the players have been used to until after BIL 2025 - except for the top level Wallaby players. There's almost no chance of full-time professional wages for the...

I've been making this point consistently for quite some time. Other than the top echelon of Wallabies, the rest of the players are going to have to take a significant play cut. This is regardless of whatever form of competition takes place next year; Super Rugby in it's current form, TT in some form or...

Similar games have been played before and they've had zero impact on either game. They tend to simply confirm people's existing preferences. It's purely a money making venture. What's probably more concerning is that the NRL have completely brushed RA and gone to NZRU, which means that...

It's behind the paywall, here is an article written by Jamie Pandaram for today's papers. While a threat to strike ahead of the revamped Super Rugby AU competition has eased, Rugby Australia’s latest pay cut demands are set to have even greater consequences. Some of Australia’s top players...

Although not everyone is as pessimistic. Former New Zealand rugby coach Steve Hansen has been consulted on constructing a set of rules to ensure a Kangaroos-All Blacks hybrid game would be a trans-Tasman sporting success. The Courier-Mail has exclusively obtained the rules for the proposed...

Also the fact that RA will have no role massively increases the chance of it being a success

If you haven't worked out the answer to that, then there's nothing I can do to help you

The fact that it's even being talked about shows what NZRU really think about RA I'd suggest.

Don't think it's meant to prove anything. It's simply a money making activity.