Australia and South Africa at odds over Super expansion
Australia and South Africa at odds over Super expansion
By Bret Harris | March 03, 2009
Article from: The Australian
With the three SANZAR partners engaged in brinkmanship over the expansion of the Super 14 series, it may be left to the market to determine the future of the competition.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill flew to Dubai on Monday for arguably the toughest negotiation of his career with Australia's SANZAR partners, New Zealand and South Africa.
Australia and South Africa are at loggerheads over the expansion of the series, each arguing for an additional team from their own country.
The ARU wants to base a team with a Pacific Islander make-up in Melbourne, Gold Coast, western Sydney or Newcastle, while South Africa are pushing for a side on the Eastern Cape to promote black players.
Under the terms of its existing broadcast deal with News Ltd, publisher of The Australian, SANZAR must put forward a proposal, or proposals, for Super rugby by June 30.
If the three countries cannot reach an agreement on Super rugby, News Ltd may help them make a decision, depending on how the media company values the competing proposals.
"I'm hopeful we get potentially two options that we can take to the broadcasters," O'Neill said.
"Broadcasters inevitably have a pretty good feel for what works and what doesn't work. If you put a proposition up to them that really doesn't have much appeal, they will tell you pretty quickly, and the way they tell you is they price it poorly.
"It's a bit like selling your house. You've got an idea of what it is worth. The agent tells you what it's worth. You go to the market and you auction it and the market tells you what it's worth. We are just about to find out what the market thinks.
"It's not a die-in-the-ditch meeting, but in my view we have to come out with two options, which you can take to the broadcasters and get them priced and see which one actually suits the partnership and the individual members best."
O'Neill understood the political motives in South Africa to create a team on the Eastern Cape, but he said SANZAR had reached an in-principle agreement last year for the addition of a fifth Australian team.
"The Eastern Cape for South Africa's purposes is very important politically to, over time, get a team in Super rugby," O'Neill said. "Our view is the time is a few years away, not now.
"We'll be pushing for our own opportunities in this market and perhaps Japan.
"At the end of the day it has to be a SANZAR decision. It's not a decision of any one particular union, but at the moment brinkmanship is around.
"We all have to be a bit careful that we don't overplay any particular hand. There are pretty tough economic conditions and the SANZAR joint venture has to think long and hard before its takes any particular decision."
There is a strong chance SANZAR will decide to go with the status quo, but it would be difficult to negotiate a higher value for the same product in the economic climate. "Status quo is perhaps an option, certainly not one we would prefer," O'Neill said.
"I wouldn't want to be too prescriptive. We are going in with the Super 15 model as our preference.
"We reached consensus on that last year. What are the reasons for not pursuing it this year? It's not expansion for expansion's sake.
"All the research and all the feedback tells us Super rugby finishes too quickly. It's not a long enough season."
The ARU is also arguing for the start of an expanded Super rugby series to be pushed back from February to March, but this is also meeting resistance in South Africa because it would conflict with the provincial Currie Cup competition.
"There are issues around Currie Cup and the availability of Springboks playing Currie Cup," O'Neill said. "If you expand Super rugby into June/July, finishing early August, it means Currie Cup and indeed NPC (in New Zealand) come into the equation."
Asked whether Australia and New Zealand would consider creating a new competition without South Africa, O'Neill said: "We wouldn't want to contemplate that.
"We are in a joint venture. Clearly, we are close neighbours with New Zealand and we share a lot in common, but we are pushing ahead with Super 15 at this stage."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html
