Hopes for an annual Bledisloe Cup match being played mid-Super Rugby season on Anzac Day have fallen over.
As revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald, Rugby Australia had hoped the annual fixture would be launched next year in Perth, with the support of the Western Australian government, but New Zealand Rugby pulled the pin recently on the concept.
Although NZR chief executive Mark Robinson was initially upbeat about the proposal, the former All Black said there was too much risk in disrupting the Super Rugby Pacific season to get an additional third Bledisloe Test off the ground.
“We certainly committed to exploring the concept and were open-minded to it, but had a lot of work to do,” Robinson told the Herald.
“When we have gone and spoken to various groups, be it the Super Rugby clubs, the players association and various partners, we don’t see it as viable, at this stage.
“As part of that we looked at the model of doing this home and away, because if we were to move to what is effectively a three-Test series, playing every year away wasn’t something we thought was appropriate. And when you look at the financial model of doing it home and away, it’s vastly different to what the Australians are proposing with their model of funding.
“The reality of that, and how it looked long-term commercially, was another consideration. What we do we risk in Super, in player welfare and in other commercial partnerships, by comparison? That was the equation we looked at and, at the moment, it doesn’t really stack up.”
Happier times: Phil Waugh’s (L) hopes of getting an annual Anzac Day Bledisloe Cup clash have been turned down by New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson (C). (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
Had the concept got off the ground, Rugby Australia not only stood to bank millions, but they would have also had a major event to compete with the AFL and NRL, who often draw huge numbers, including a packed MCG for the annual Collingwood and Essendon clash, to Anzac sporting fixtures.
The plan would have required either Super Rugby to take a two-week break, which is commonplace in the north when the Six Nations is played, or the franchises to be without its players of national interest.
The Herald reported that not only was current All Blacks coach Scott Robertson concerned about the quick lead-up time, but Super Rugby investors across the ditch were uneasy about compromising their teams for the one-off fixture.
Asked if he saw the NZR’s changing, Robinson indicated not in the short term.
“Based on all in the information we’ve seen, there were no solutions to all of those things combined that we could see immediately. It’s hard to see in the immediate future, that’s for sure,” he said.
Hopes of getting an annual Anzac Day Bledisloe Cup clash up and running have fallen over. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh said he would continue to lobby his NZR counterparts about the concept’s benefits.
“We think it could be one of the most compelling sporting events on the calendar across Australia and New Zealand, uniting our two countries on a day we reflect on the strength of the bond between us,” Waugh told the Herald.
“The Wallabies and All Blacks share a rich history and an Australia-New Zealand Bledisloe Cup on Anzac Day would add a new chapter to that. The stakeholder engagement and commercial due diligence we have undertaken all come to the same conclusion: this is an excellent initiative and one worth pursuing. We will continue to work towards a solution.”
Waugh’s sentiment comes almost 12 months after RA chairman and former World Cup-winning Wallaby Dan Herbert said conservatism was holding the game back.
“We are still hanging on to a lot of the amateur baggage, in my view,” Herbert said on the Inside Line podcast.
“We need to break free of that, and start to look with a clean sheet of paper: how do we build the most commercial, entertaining products we possibly can, to attract the biggest market we can?”
