TEST rugby between Australia and New Zealand in Hong Kong get used to it. This is the future.
Playing a Bledisloe Cup game away from the traditional venues is breaking new ground, perhaps controversially, but all sports are going down this same road and rugby may well follow them. We've seen the unbelievable situation of the English cricket team playing a Stanford Super Stars in the West Indies with a winner-takes-all prize of $US20 million.Five years ago, who could have predicted that? Who would have thought such a thing as Twenty20 would have been created, let alone risen to where it is now? Who's to say similar cash-grabbing situations won't arise in rugby? I believe they will.
Soccer has evolved tremendously with the Asian Champions League. The AFL is jumping on the bandwagon by pumping up like never before its promotion of the Australia-Ireland Leg 1 international rules clash. All these moves by Australian sports to branch out are being driven by the bottom line the dollar. It's a sign of the times.
We've seen the defections of Australian league and union players to Europe. Sonny Bill Williams and Mark Gasnier received most of the ink in newspapers, but no longer should we just talk about players going to the highest bidder. The unions are also starting to follow them, and they cannot be blamed for it. More often than not, it's a matter of necessity. The money they receive is poured back into the game at all levels. This money is badly needed.
It would be remiss of rugby, or any other sport, to turn their backs on it.
A line in the sand will be drawn next year when the broadcasting rights come up for the three major southern hemisphere countries. The word I'm hearing is that negotiations will be tough. The Australian Rugby Union also has a number of its major sponsors coming off their deals at the end of next year. Rumours are rife that there will be difficult times ahead on that front, too. We have strong competition now from the other three codes.
We may well see a team from Japan enter the equation in the next broadcasting mix, again for economic reasons. New Zealand is still driving the US connection. Obviously it can see huge financial gains to be made there. The rumour doing the rounds at the moment is the likelihood of a Super 14 team out of Dubai. This team, based in one of the richest countries in the world, would be made up of Australian and Islander players. Some people might say, ``Why have that kind of team in the Super 14?''. My answer to them would be, ``Why not?''
We've had only three Tests, three major games of rugby, in Australia since the end of June. There's no doubt two of the other big footballing contests this year, the NRL and AFL grand finals, were great occasions. But I cannot say the same for the Australia versus Qatar soccer. It might get a lot of publicity. It might be played in front of full houses. But it doesn't do a lot for me as a spectacle.
Next year, Australia has two non-drawing Tests against Italy. They are unlikely to pull massive crowds through the gate. They might, because the Wallabies can always draw a crowd, but Tests against Italy do not immediately capture people's attention to the same extent. These Tests will not help the bottom line for the ARU.
We also have two games against South Africa at home. These are far more appealing, but still don't have quite the drawing power of two Bledisloe Cup games. Again, that will affect the bottom line.
The major concern in rugby, with a major impact on the standard of the game in this hemisphere, is the exodus of players to Europe. The loss of players from New Zealand is the biggest worry. This affects its domestic competition and therefore rugby in that country. There is chaos in South Africa at the moment.
Ewen McKenzie spelled it out very clearly a week ago. With the number of rugby union and rugby league agents knocking on the doors of European clubs, the exodus will only continue. With the downturn in the Australian economy and the fall of the Australian dollar, the euro and the pound are very attractive to players. This year's Hong Kong and Wembley fixtures will be fantastic for the bottom line of the ARU.
Next year, who knows? We might see an Australian rugby union XV playing the equivalent of a Stanford XV somewhere in the world for a winner-takes-all purse of $20 million. You cannot rule anything out because new ground is being broken in rugby for players - and the unions.
