ARU boss O'Neill to mend SANZAR fence

[travelling_gerry]

ARU boss O'Neill to mend SANZAR fence

By David Beniuk, AAP August 17, 2010, 4:23 pm

Australian rugby boss John O'Neill will be looking to "calm things down" when he meets South African officials amidst reports they want out of the SANZAR agreement.


The South African Rugby Union have said they will consider quitting the body, a partnership with Australia and New Zealand, which manages the Super rugby and Tri-Nations tournaments.


O'Neill will head to the Republic soon after the Wallabies, who play Tests against the Springboks in Pretoria on August 28 and Bloemfontein on September 4.


"It's got to be taken with a grain of salt," O'Neill told reporters on Tuesday.


"I'll be over there for 10 days and we'll meet with the SARU officials.


"It's fair to say the relationship at the moment is a bit tense and the reasons for that are well documented.


"I want to try and calm things down.


"The joint venture is a very important one. We've just signed a new five-year broadcasting deal that goes through to 2015 so speculating about the end of the joint venture at the start of a new five-year deal is scarcely what I call rational."


Relations between the SARU and the ARU/NZRU soured again recently over the disciplinary hearing against Springboks coach Peter de Villiers.


Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom is also trying to turn his, and the media's, attention to South Africa amidst the frenzy over five-eighth Quade Cooper's talks with NRL club Parramatta.


The Australian side flies out on Friday to set up base in Cape Town.


"You've got to be able to identify what's important and work on those things and I think, for us, we've got the tour coming up to Africa and we've got a fair bit to work on there so we're just focusing on that," Elsom said.


"We know we've got a big job, we've still got a lot of things to work on, we obviously didn't win the last two matches so that's not ideal.

"I'd say the feeling's good but we're realistic about where we are."


http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-sanzar-fence/

[MI5_Dog]

business as usual at SANZAR
SA "You guys suck we're leaving"
Aus "I shall play mediator to make it look like I belong here and have some importance"
NZ "Whatever!"

[Burgs]

Blues
Brumbies
Chiefs
Crusaders
Fiji
Highlanders
Hurricanes
Japan
Rebels
Reds
Samoa
Tonga
Waratahs
Western Force

Or

Blues
Brumbies
Chiefs
Crusaders
Highlanders
Hurricanes
New South Wales Country Cockatoos
North Harbour
Queensland Country Heelers
Rebels
Reds
Southland or Hawke's Bay
Waratahs
Western Force

[WF2006]

Blues
Brumbies
Chiefs
Crusaders
Fiji
Highlanders
Hurricanes
Japan
Rebels
Reds
Samoa
Tonga
Waratahs
Western Force

Or

Blues
Brumbies
Chiefs
Crusaders
Highlanders
Hurricanes
New South Wales Country Cockatoos
North Harbour
Queensland Country Heelers
Rebels
Reds
Southland or Hawke's Bay
Waratahs
Western Force

Nice ideas, while we're at it though, couldn't we get rid of the Tah's too!

[GIGS20]

Please don't try too hard JON

[jombi]

North Harbour

O_o

Should definitely be BoP!

[zimeric]

make it 16 teams though

Just looking at the Domestic structures of Both SA (currie cup) and NZ (ITM cup) its no wonder why Australia are struggling at super14 level.. really does highlight the need for Australia to have a viable domestic comp..

Perhaps even have it as a 2 tier system.. 6 teams from each country face off in a new "Dirty Dozen" format. The top 6 from each domestic comp face off in a second tier comp where the top 4 have a chance of being promoted if they get the flag
The bottom placed team in the "dirty dozen" will be relegated. ensuring there is always incentive not to get the wooden spoon. the problem for Aus is where to locate the 12 teams so that its a fair spread.

my thinking ..
Aus
Perth North
Perth South
Sydney East
Sydney West
Sydney South
Sydney North
Newcastle
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Melbourne
Adelaide
Hobart?

NZ
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
Counties Manukau
Hawke's Bay
Manawatu
Northland
Otago
Taranaki
Tasman
Waikato
Wellington

[brokendown gunfighter]

where's the money going to come from?

[James]

Ditch the Super 15 and break into domestic competitions + a heineken cup style clash. 8 teams- just like the ARC (maybe with a plan to give one of Sydney's to South Australia at some point). Top 4 go into a clash with the top four from SA and NZ plus the national teams of Japan/Tonga/Samoa/Fiji. Bottom four can hit it out with the bottom whoevers from wherever

[Stone Cold]

I like the Pacific nations concept adding to our Super teams...that way the games are on in the arvo (perth time) rather than bloody late at night...

[blueandblack]

AAP
August 19, 2010, 1:14 pm

The South African rugby's player union has warned bickering among the SANZAR partners could threaten the broadcast deals which are the "lifeline" of the game.

Divisions within the group, which has steered professional rugby in the southern hemisphere since 1996, will put at risk the livelihoods of hundreds of players in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, says Piet Heymans, head of the South African Professional Rugby Players Association.

South Africa has reportedly threatened to walk away from SANZAR over differences with the Australian Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Union, threatening the future of the Tri-Nations and Super rugby competitions.

"The players view Super rugby and the Tri-Nations as the best rugby competitions in the world and also the toughest to participate in," Heymans said.

"The players are concerned that emotions are driving the current differences within SANZAR.

"Should the SANZAR partnership be dissolved it could have serious implications, not just for South African rugby but world rugby as a whole."

Heymans said professional players in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand depended on the income SANZAR derived from broadcasting deals around the Super rugby and Tri-Nations tournaments for their livelihoods.

Any dispute which dissolved SANZAR's future also threatened professionalism, he said.

"The SANZAR broadcasting agreement ... is the lifeline of South African rugby and should not unnecessarily be put at risk," he said.

"During the renewal of the SANZAR broadcast deal various alternatives were investigated and the reality is that there are not viable options that can provide the players and the public with exciting world class rugby."

Heymans said a players' voice might be needed during discussions about SANZAR's future to ensure their best interests were represented.

"It may well be in the interest of SANZAR that the players are more directly involved in the administration of SANZAR, especially when important decisions and differences are made and discussed," he said.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...-sanzar-split/

Bye then! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[beige]

The South African rugby's player union has warned bickering among the SANZAR partners could threaten the broadcast deals which are the "lifeline" of the game.

...

Any dispute which dissolved SANZAR's future also threatened professionalism, he said.

...

"During the renewal of the SANZAR broadcast deal various alternatives were investigated and the reality is that there are not viable options that can provide the players and the public with exciting world class rugby."

Nice ideas but that pretty much sums it up there.

[Sheikh]

make it 16 teams though

Just looking at the Domestic structures of Both SA (currie cup) and NZ (ITM cup) its no wonder why Australia are struggling at super14 level.. really does highlight the need for Australia to have a viable domestic comp..

Perhaps even have it as a 2 tier system.. 6 teams from each country face off in a new "Dirty Dozen" format. The top 6 from each domestic comp face off in a second tier comp where the top 4 have a chance of being promoted if they get the flag
The bottom placed team in the "dirty dozen" will be relegated. ensuring there is always incentive not to get the wooden spoon. the problem for Aus is where to locate the 12 teams so that its a fair spread.

my thinking ..
Aus
Perth North
Perth South
Sydney East
Sydney West
Sydney South
Sydney North
Newcastle
Gold Coast
Brisbane
Melbourne
Adelaide
Hobart?

You don't want too many Australian teams - it'll spread the talent too thinly. The advantage of Super Rugby is that the best talent is playing together against other top quality opposition (and the Lions), and that raises everyone's game. Having too many teams would go back to the time when players went straight from Shute Shield to international level. The above list would be OK for an ARC type competition, with each Super 15 team supplying 2-3 national level clubs.

[travelling_gerry]

The South African rugby's player union has warned bickering among the SANZAR partners could threaten the broadcast deals which are the "lifeline" of the game.

Divisions within the group, which has steered professional rugby in the southern hemisphere since 1996, will put at risk the livelihoods of hundreds of players in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, says Piet Heymans, head of the South African Professional Rugby Players Association.






.

[WARHORSE]

where's the money going to come from?

Julia Gillard promises to fund it to break the deadlock of the hung parliament

She'd suck anything at the moment