Awkward grilling of CEO Phil Waugh airs Super Rugby’s dirty laundry
The assessment that there would be no winners in Melbourne Rebels v Rugby Australia was painfully confirmed in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday.
During the live-streamed proceedings, RA chief executive Phil Waugh appeared to prefer being stuck at the bottom of a rock being trampled by South African hardman Bakkies Botha.
Waugh’s examination was excruciating at times because he frequently used two phrases: “I don’t remember” and “I don’t remember at the moment”.
Events take an almost comical turn when the rebels’ lawyer, Bernard Quinn, KC, becomes unintentionally involved. Kath and Kim “Look at me, please,” he was saying to Waugh, trying to find a clear answer.
Former Rebels managers are suing Rugby Australia, claiming the club was treated unfairly when it loses its license in 2024.
But whoever wins this trial, which resumes on Monday, some damage has already been done to Australian rugby, particularly Super Rugby.
In extraordinary evidence, mostly from RA board meeting minutes, the court heard there were doubts about the solvency of the Brumbies and Waratahs currently on the RA’s books in mid-2023.
This forms the background to an explosive WhatsApp message that emerged on Thursday in which Dan Herbert, then a non-executive director at the RA and now chairman, told an unknown recipient that the RA “should have let them”. [the Brumbies and Rebels] The recipient responded to the “falling” question with a thumbs up emoji.
Waugh said he could not recall whether he was actually the recipient of the message from Herbert, but added that if he was, the thumbs-up emoji could mean receipt rather than confirmation of the message’s content.
Parochial Canberrans will have their own interpretation of this exchange.
But the very fact that the Brumbies’ end at RA in 2023 has been entertained at all levels reflects Super Rugby’s struggles.
In fact, some of the ideas floated between RA and New Zealand Rugby in 2023 reeked of desperation, as it emerged in court on Thursday.
First, there was the idea that Rebels could merge with Moana Pacifica in the hope that the two loss-making organizations would somehow be better together. Secondly, New Zealand Rugby was considering bringing Moana Pacifica to the US west coast. Thirdly, there was the idea that five new South African teams (not including the Bulls, Stormers, Lions or Sharks) could join Super Rugby. Fourth, a second team could be established in Perth.
None of these ideas came true.
An optimistic outlook following Thursday’s court evidence is that the landscape for RA and Super Rugby has changed significantly since 2023.
That’s true to an extent, and this year marks the first of an enhanced publishing deal with Stan and Nine Entertainment, the owners of that imprint.
But of course the other change was the “integration” of the Brumbies and Waratahs into the RA, who were now responsible for their losses.
A big question in Australian rugby remains: how much are RA losing each year to keep the Waratahs and Brumbies in the Super Rugby competition, which was in decline before the Rebels’ collapse and was described as a “product” on the court?
Considering the difficulties experienced by the rebels, Moana Pacifica’s deathGiven the NZ$2 million (US$1.65 million) loss the Hurricanes suffered last year (no New Zealand team cashed in) and well-placed sources indicate, it would be reasonable to assume that on the current course the combined annual losses for the Waratahs and Brumbies will exceed last year’s losses. $70 million British and Irish Lions surplus years before tourists came to Australia again.
RA has 100 million dollar World Cup chance It will arrive next year, but the Lions have been very careful to roll out the excess from the tour, suggesting the overall model is still losing money.
Crowds in Sydney and Canberra are still lackluster at best and this year’s Super Rugby finals look set to be played only in New Zealand, further dampening interest in the competition.
RA and NZ Rugby will need creative thinking to lift Super Rugby, a jointly owned entity that is currently underperforming.
As for the Rebels v RA case, it is complicated in some areas (such as the Super Rugby clubs’ charter and RA’s funding obligations) but at heart it is still a classic test of who knew what and when.
That will be for the court to decide, but as far as the general rugby public is concerned, they now know a lot more about the rigors of Super Rugby, and much of it is disturbing.
Paul Cully is a rugby columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
