A fundamental fact the ARU are dealing with is that more than a decade of incompetence has them looking at a system which is not financially sustainable simply because nobody is watching. Sorry nobody new is watching.
I have said for years that there simply is not enough money in the game here to sustain the system they have, not just in Super Rugby but the Wallabies as well.
So the ARU is a grand example of neo-conservative trickle down economics has deemed for that decade that more funding to the top in the form of bigger and better (from their POV) media deals will "grow" the game. Has there ever been an example of trickle down economics working anywhere in the world?
Now we have with the benefit of the European learnings (obviously the Skysports link
) adopted the latest version of neoconservative economic management, austerity. Lets grow the economy Greek style by contracting its "cost base" by 20%. Yes that will work.
We have got here because the ARU is fundamentally incompetent. Not just this iteration but all the versions that have gone before since professionalism with each incoming Board member and CEO inheriting the "projects" and agreements of the one before and being selected because they "fit" the vision of the people already in place, because they were also picked for that reason.
So if anybody really wants to "save" Australian Rugby, break the ARU. Basically the state RUs and RUPA need to get together and vote to leave the ARU and form a new body that will apply for membership with the IRB. I'm and 100% sure that the grass roots clubs will dump the ARU. Let them have their meetings and make decisions that will impact nobody. Make no mistake, this is not an action that allows for the continuation of the Force or Rebels, or even the Tahs, Reds and Brumbies. SANZAAR itself will cease to exist simply because the signatory from the Australian market ceases to have any players or clubs to contribute.