Paltry crowd watch Brumbies win

April 9, 2011 - 9:57PM
.Brumbies 17 Hurricanes 16


..The smallest Canberra crowd in more than a decade watched the Brumbies end a five-match losing streak with a 17-16 Super Rugby win against the Hurricanes on Saturday night.


A Matt Giteau penalty in the 62nd minute placed the Brumbies in front to record their first win since round one, with the victory averting a record equalling six straight losses.

Advertisement: Story continues below Both sides scored a try but Giteau’s four penalties lifted the Brumbies to their first Super win against the Hurricanes since 2006 in front of 12,333 spectators.

The crowd was the lowest for a Brumbies home match since March 2000.

With the match between sides that had won game match apiece, the handling and ball retention reflected their positions on the table.

The win for the Brumbies keeps their slim hopes of qualifying for the finals while the Hurricanes can start preparing for 2012.

As the match progressed, the Brumbies scrum gained ascendency to place pressure on their opponent’s first-phase ball.

The home side went to half-time ahead 11-10 following a try by man of the-match Henry Speight two minutes before the break.

Brumbies scrum-half Josh Valentine sniped at a ruck before several passes to Speight, who stepped twice off his left foot for the Fijian winger to score his first try of the season.

Speight started the match on the right wing before switching to the other flank following Adam Ashley-Cooper’s departure for a stinger injury on his hip.

The Fijian atoned for an earlier miss where he lost the ball as he was crossing the tryline.

Momentum was with the Hurricanes initially as the visitors dominated possession and territory.

Hurricanes five-eighth Aaron Cruden scored the first try after he followed his charge down of Brumbies fullbackMatt Toomua’s clearing kick to slide over the tryline ahead of Ashley-Cooper in the fourth minute.

The charge down was the second off a Toomua kick in a minute.

BRUMBIES 17 (Henry Speight try Matt Giteau 4 pens drop goal) bt HURRICANES 16 (Aaron Cruden try con Daniel Kirkpatrick 2, Cruden pens) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Craig Joubert. Crowd: 12,233.

AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/paltry-crowd-watch-brumbies-win-20110409-1d8s8.html

Melbourne's motley Rebels real scrappers

Mark Ella From: The Australian April 09, 2011

WHO would have thought after seven rounds of Super Rugby that Melbourne Rebels would have more wins than the Brumbies and Western Force combined.

After their 43-0 thrashing by the Waratahs in Melbourne in the first round, the Rebels looked like they would not win a game all year, but somehow this motley crew of foreign legionnaires, dad's army conscripts and rejects from other teams has scraped together three of the most unlikely victories you will see.

The fact that two of the Rebels' wins came against the Brumbies and the Force underlines how far the expansion team has come in such a short time. While the season still has a long way to go, they should be proud of their achievements to date.

Maybe we should not have been too surprised that this team has bucked the trend.

When Rebels and former Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen guided the Brumbies in their debut season in 1996, they finished ahead of NSW on the table - no mean feat.

By contrast, the Brumbies and Force have each only won one game.

The Brumbies sacked coach Andy Friend after their loss to the Rebels in round two and have not won a game since.

Caretaker coach Tony Rea has done his best to change the fortunes of his team but if the Brumbies lose against the Hurricanes this weekend, he might as well pack his bags. Like the Brumbies, the Hurricanes have had a nightmare start to their season and they are just as desperate to win.

If Rea has any intention of staying with the Brumbies beyond this season, he has to make some tough decisions. It's obvious the players are still calling the shots and Jake White's reign as coach of the Brumbies can't come quick enough if it means bringing to an end this ridiculous charade.

The Force, on the other hand, have been competitive in almost every game it has played but has lost matches it should have won - the sign of a team with no killer instinct.

I fear for the future of the Brumbies and Force.

The Brumbies have not made the playoffs since they last won the title in 2004, while Force has been in the competition for six years and not made the finals.

When White gets the Brumbies coaching job next year, he will have a bigger challenge than he realised. With Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper leaving and captain Rocky Elsom struggling to get on the field, it is going to become harder for the Brumbies to attract quality players.

The Force still looks like an expansion team to me which, sadly, is beginning to become tiresome, repetitive and, like the Brumbies, in need of a complete overhaul.

New coach Richard Graham is receiving a real baptism of fire.

As time goes on, the Rebels will be obliged to reduce their foreign imports, which means they will become even more aggressive in the marketplace for quality Australian players. This will be a big challenge for the Brumbies and Force.

At the moment the two traditional states, NSW and Queensland, are the dominant forces in Australian rugby, not always because they are superior on the rugby field but because they are more reliable to get

home then the other three Australian Super rugby franchises.

The way the rugby world is aligning I can see Melbourne rising in the next few years to create an eastern seaboard stranglehold making it harder for the Force to have any realistic impact because of its isolation in the west.

The Brumbies and the Force need to act quickly, starting tonight to ensure they remain competitive in the marketplace because success breeds success and failure breeds failure.

Watching the Waratahs against the Chiefs last weekend was like watching paint dry and their second half performance almost out me to sleep.

The Waratahs remain the most overrated and under-achieving team in Australian rugby, which makes them wide open for the Force to cause an upset tonight and get its season back on the road.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/melbournes-motley-rebels-real-scrappers/story-e6frg7t6-1226036236016

Post-World Cup player exodus may head Down Under this timeThe timing of the tournament may see exhausted players head south as they take account of different seasonal demands

Shaun Edwards The Guardian, Friday 15 April 2011

Just fancy this. After the emotional high of winning a World Cup – or even coming close – you are pitched into league rugby almost immediately, in the autumn, and then do not get a rest until May.

Don't say it couldn't happen, because it was what was expected of England's players after they had won the Webb Ellis Cup in 2003. And while Lewis Moody and his players will not go through the same thing this year, some of the England guys who earn their crust in France might. Rumour has it, it's causing a few of them to think about their careers.

After every World Cup there is something of a merry-go-round of transfers between the northern and southern hemispheres, and so far it has been the south that has shown more concern as their guys pack their bags and leave Super Rugby for the big cash that has been available up here – in particular, in France. The argument has always been easy. It's about cash in the bank – and Dan Carter is setting the bar pretty high with his agents asking for a reported £1m‑plus per season – plus a decent lifestyle in an elegant and exciting part of the world. Two or three seasons in the north build up a bank balance, but on a contract that guarantees availability for the next World Cup.

With such inducements available, it's no surprise that so far the migration has been south to north, especially when the value of the pound or the euro is factored in. After the 2007 World Cup in France, there was considerable concern in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. There was a lot of muttering in the corridors of power about the one-way traffic, particularly to the French league, the Top 14. But I cannot remember much being done officially so, in theory, the same could happen after this autumn's competition.

It might well do, given that a number of venerable All Blacks, Springboks and Australians are looking for a final pay day, but I'm told there are one or two things which have changed some mindsets. For a start, the fall in the value of the pound has made the UK less attractive. One or two players, apparently, are thinking about moves the other way, with some of the guys currently playing in the north considering that a few years in Super Rugby may be appropriate.

These players have looked at how well Danny Cipriani and particularly Gareth Delve have gone with the new Melbourne Rebels franchise and are thinking that two years down that way might do their careers no harm. The reasons are plentiful and, for once, suggest that players are considering something other than their bank balances.

After New Zealand 2011, all the southern-hemisphere sides will have a holiday. It's part of the natural cycle, with Super Rugby not kicking off again until February 2012, and there are plenty of envious eyes looking south – particularly those who don't fancy following the emotional high of playing for their country with the bump of a hasty return to seemingly endless league rugby.

With England it is not so bad. The deal between Twickenham and the Premiership clubs means that members of Martin Johnson's squad get rests, but it's not the same in France. Clubs may pay good money, but they also expect their players to earn it and there are, apparently, some who are wondering whether they could get better value for their efforts, especially when adding thepotential length of a career to the argument.

Last season, for example, one of Toulouse's European champions might have played 40 games, quite apart from being involved in domestic cup competitions, whereas to earn a Super Rugby winning bonus with South Africa's Bulls could have involved playing 13 regular‑season matches before the semi-final and final.

OK, those Bulls also had some Currie Cup matches to follow, but the fee‑per‑match argument is pretty important, and more so if you look at the construct of the northern-hemisphere seasons in this World Cup year.

Whereas Super Rugby did not start until February, the French have been playing league rugby since mid-August – starting two weeks earlier than the Aviva Premiership – and they will still be at it a week after our grand final, which takes place at Twickenham on 28 May.

That is quite a workload. If you have to be back at the grindstone not long after the final ceremony in Auckland on 23 October, it's easy to see why the grass might look greener elsewhere.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/apr/15/world-cup-2011-shaun-edwards

Another sad old story for the Chiefs
EVAN PEGDEN Last updated 05:00 16/04/2011

It was a familiar story for the Chiefs at Baypark Stadium last night.

There was outstanding endeavour, bruising defence and total commitment, but small errors and turnovers were seized upon by the Crusaders and they got a 34-16 Super Rugby victory in a messy game.

The Chiefs were right in it at halftime at Mt Maunganui in front of a lively crowd of 16,500. They trailed 17-13 and the early stages of the second spell were promising, keyed by a couple of big tackles from centre Richard Kahui.

But it was the Crusaders who scored one of their typical long-range counter-attacking tries from some fine defensive counter-rucking and a quick and skilful massing of numbers on the ball.

At the other end of the field replacement halfback Andy Ellis finished off with a try between the posts, Mat Berquist converted and the visitors looked safe at 24-13.

Mike Delany kept the Chiefs in touch with his third penalty goal but the Crusaders had their tails up and when Delany missed another penalty chance and the home side could not convert their line breaks into points the game was up.

Berquist kicked the Crusaders to 27-16 as they made sure of the victory before hunting the bonus point, which came a couple of minutes from the end courtesy of replacement lock Luke Romano, who luckily grabbed the ball off a knock-on by Richie McCaw, the latter coming off the bench in his comeback game.

"We gifted them a soft try in the first half but apart from that it was two very even, very physical teams going at it," Chiefs coach Ian Foster said.

"I thought that carried on for another 15 minutes in the second half where we got behind and forced a couple of penalties, but couldn't get them over and couldn't quite get close to them, which perhaps might have changed the nature of that last 15."

Foster said the Crusaders were better at "taking those little moments" and the Chiefs had to get better at that.

Foster took a strong bench into the game and had hoped to make a strong second-half impact as a result, but instead it was the Crusaders who did that – something confirmed by their skipper Kieran Read who said their bench had got them over the line.

"I probably agree with that assessment. We were probably one short," Foster said of losing flanker Tanerau Latimer with a head knock early in the game that has endangered his trip to South Africa with the team tomorrow.


"Lats' injury changed the way we were able to execute what we wanted to execute and in the last 15 that was when they started to get more dominant at the breakdown and we didn't have a player to bring on."

The Chiefs hung in determinedly in the first half with some tough defence, only letting themselves down with small errors that the Crusaders were able to pounce on in typical fashion.

Centre Robbie Fruean had the first try from a Chiefs turnover in just the third minute.

The visitors swept some 60 metres with some slick ball handling to manipulate an overlap. Fullback Israel Dagg got a lovely pass back on the inside to Fruean, who handled twice in the move.

But the Chiefs came back with some impressive attacking play of their own.

That also came from a ruck turnover, after Sitiveni Sivivatu had made an initial break down the left flank in his record 83rd appearance for the home side.

They lost the ball, then got it back and second-five Dwayne Sweeney and lock Isaac Ross combined cleverly to put Lelia Masaga into space. He weaved his way through for the try.

The Chiefs hit the lead 10-7 when Delany added a penalty goal from 44m, but he then threw a wide pass that was intercepted by former Waikato boy Sean Maitland in the 16th minute and he scored the five points from 50m out.

A Berquist conversion and penalty goal had the Crusaders out to 17-10 but the Chiefs did most of the attacking from then on and were unlucky not to get more reward than the Delany penalty goal right on halftime.

Scorers:

Crusaders 34 (Robbie Fruean, Sean Maitland, Andy Ellis, Luke Romano tries; Mat Berquist 4 cons, 2 pens)

Chiefs 16 (Lelia Masaga try; Mike Delany con, 3 pens). Halftime 17-13 Crusaders.

- Waikato Times

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/sport/4895726/Another-sad-old-story-for-the-Chiefs

Here's a real side-splitter: How do you spell 'culture' in Melbourne? C-a-s-h

Greg Growden
April 18, 2011


The Super Rugby scene has suddenly become a barrel of laughs. The first half of the Eden Park match on Saturday night was like watching an old TV episode of Batman, with ''Crash'', ''Bang'' and ''Kapow'' screaming across the screen every time a Waratah fell over, missed a tackle or knocked himself out.

A few hours later came a marvellous moment of mirth when Digby Ioane performed ''the Dancing Crab'' after scoring an exceptional try for the Reds in an extraordinary match at Suncorp Stadium. Ioane should be fast-tracked into the Australian Olympic Games gymnastics team after that acrobatic effort.

Nonetheless, the most side-splitting moment came when Rebels officials tried to hoodwink all by arguing the reason Kurtley Beale was leaving the Waratahs for Melbourne next season was related to culture, not cash. The Rebels clearly aim to make their organisation sound like the world's most enviable rugby outfit, and their agenda revolves around pushing the line: ''It's not about money … It's the pursuit of excellence.''

Who are they kidding? Next the Rebels will try to tell us the Yarra is more picturesque than the Hawkesbury, the Narrabeen surf break has nothing on St Kilda beach, and the Easter Bunny - alive, well and running the club gym - has begun a course during which all their players on a pittance discover how to be community leaders.

On top of that, the Rebels argue they are not being bolstered by lucrative third-party agreements from the Melbourne business community. Funny that, because certain Rebels players remember a different line being thrown at them when they were being lured to the club, with assurances of being ''set up for life after football''. And all this after those with an understanding of the Beale move explained that the Rebels deal was ''substantially higher'' than what NSW could have offered. Even the Waratahs know they have been caught short in the secretive world of third-party deals.

At least some sanity emerged when Reds coach Ewen McKenzie, who was heavily involved in securing Beale for the Waratahs from St Joseph's College five years, gave his thoughts on the RuggaMatrix podcast. McKenzie said Beale had taken a ''rugby risk'' going to the Rebels. He also had never believed that Beale would leave the Waratahs. ''Why would he? He was a player in the most consistent team in Australian rugby over the past five or six years. It can only be for a financial reason,'' McKenzie said.

''There is also a lot of certainty at the Waratahs. I know NSW have done a lot of work for Kurtley, being his mentor through some difficult times. They'll be bitterly disappointed that he has gone, and it will stick in their craw because they would have believed he would stick with them. Then they get a phone call out of the blue saying he's going … that would have been very tough.''

The Rebels' pursuit of James O'Connor also comes with a warning. ''I've already seen this happen before with the Western Force. [Drew] Mitchell goes there. [Matt] Giteau goes there. [Sponsor] Firepower falls over. Mitchell leaves. Giteau leaves. So you have to look at the total environment, and its impact over time,'' McKenzie said.

Secondly, when high-profile players are signed to a province, other players must make way, and according to McKenzie, their departure can badly affect team culture, through a loss of personality and character within the group.

McKenzie does know something about culture. A positive winning culture. Twenty-four hours after the Rebels' Rod Macqueen described his team as a ''coach's nightmare'' when they lost their way against the Highlanders, the Reds were having the time of their lives making fun of the Bulls. The happiness of the Australian conference leaders was infectious. It is so clear they are unified and playing for each other.

And which Australian province has the lowest salary bill? The Reds.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/heres-a-real-sidesplitter-how-do-you-spell-culture-in-melbourne-cash-20110417-1djqw.html#ixzz1JptDyNO5

Queensland breaks seven-year Super Rugby drought

From: AAP April 23, 2011

QUEENSLAND has survived a torrid NSW scrummaging onslaught tonight to break a seven-year interstate drought.
The 19-15 win at Suncorp Stadium puts the Waratahs Super Rugby finals hopes on a knife-edge.

The Reds notched a franchise record seventh straight win with a tense, old-fashioned arm wrestle where the visitors camped on the Queensland line for the bulk of the second half without breaking through.

Quade Cooper scored all the home side's points, including a brilliant 34th-minute solo try, for Queensland to end the Waratahs' seven-game Templeton Cup streak dating back to 2004.

The Reds' (39) win keeps them on top of the competition table and gives them a 11-point lead over their NSW arch-rivals (28) atop the Australian conference.

Making the Waratahs' finals quest even tougher is the fact they will have to do it without in-form winger Drew Mitchell who suffered a dislocated ankle in a sickening first-half incident when he fell awkwardly chasing a Luke Burgess box kick.

In front of the biggest Australian crowd of the season, the Reds reserve front-row was forced to dig deep and pull them out of the mire at scrum-time countless times in the second half.

The Waratahs' experienced pack smashed the Reds in the first half but still couldn't prevent Cooper crossing for the only try of the match as stand-out half Will Genia brilliantly fed him the ball from a back-tracking scrum on halfway.

Cooper's dancing feet split the defence of Ryan Cross and Tom Kingston before stepping past good friend Kurtley Beale at fullback.

He celebrated the stunning solo effort with a double backflip in-goal to the delight of the 36,000-strong crowd and then iced the conversion for an 13-9 lead.

NSW forwards continued to demolish the Reds scrum after the break and put the Reds pack under immense pressure next to their line in the 51st minute.

Referee Ian Smith, who replaced an injured Steve Walsh (calf) at halftime, whistled two penalties to the Waratahs and also threatened a penalty try for the next indiscretion.

But reserve hooker James Hanson joined the fray and settled the Reds scrum, getting them out of jail on numerous occasions, but the home side were unable to clear the ball and were forced to defend for their lives in their own quarter.

Even when the Waratahs eventually claimed a try the television match official denied centre Tom Carter a five-pointer from a driving maul.

Eventually the Waratahs relented their scrummaging attack and shot for a penalty goal to close the score to 16-15 with 10 minutes left but the Reds closed out the match with Cooper kicking a 45m penalty.

It looked like it might be Queensland's night from the outset with Genia making a break from the first phase and then the Reds forwards counter-rucking to turn over the ball at the Waratahs' first breakdown but it was the visitors who grabbed a 9-3 lead at the half-hour mark.


QUEENSLAND REDS 19 (Quade Cooper try con 3 pens drop goal) NSW WARATAHS 15 (Kurtley Beale 5 pens) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Jonathan White.

AAP

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/queensland-breask-seven-year-super-rugby-drought/story-e6frg7o6-1226043849315

If Waugh pulled his head out of his arse we would have won that.

Australia will be without star winger Drew Mitchell at the World Cup after the 27-year-old dislocated an ankle and broke a bone in his leg on Saturday.

Mitchell fell awkwardly after colliding with an opposing player while turning out for New South Wales Waratahs in their clash against Queensland Reds.

"He [Mitchell] will be gone for the year," Waratahs coach Chris Hickey revealed after his team's 19-15 defeat.

The World Cup is being held in New Zealand from 9 September to 23 October.

The loss of Mitchell is a signifcant blow to the Wallabies' hopes in a tournament they last won in 1999.

Since making his debut against South Africa in 2005, the dynamic Mitchell, who can also play at full-back and centre, has scored 27 tries and boasts a total Test points tally of 135.

The former Reds and Western Force player had made a blistering start to Waratahs' Super 15 season, crossing six times since February.

However, his fine form was cruelly halted when, chasing a kick in the 19th minute of Saturday's match in Brisbane, he ran into the back of Reds loose forward Scott Higginbotham.

Mitchell screamed in agony as he went to ground, with television replays showing his foot at an unnatural angle before he was taken off the field by stretcher.

Waratahs captain Phil Waugh said the incident shook all the players.

"I think it rattled anyone who saw it," he said. "It was disappointing - you don't want to see that happen to anyone in the world in any sport."

Despite the seriousness of his injuries, though, Mitchell had not lost his sense of humour, later tweeting: "Was hoping tonight was going to be little more positive haha..Sorry about the squealing out there."

Salary cap to shackle Australian teams

Bret Harris From: The Australian April 27, 2011

IT sounds crazy, but this may be the last year an Australian team wins the Super Rugby title.
The competition is contested by 15 teams from three countries - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - collectively known as SANZAR.

From next year, the ARU will unilaterally introduce a salary cap, which will place the five Australian teams at a distinct competitive disadvantage to their rivals in New Zealand and South Africa.

While the ARU's intention is to save money on top-ups for Wallabies, the salary cap will spread the talent across the five Australian teams - Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force.

This should have the effect of making the Australian teams more competitive against each other, but it will make them less competitive against the 10 New Zealand and South African sides, which do not operate under a salary cap, although the Kiwis do have a draft system.

The absence of a powerful Australian Super Rugby franchise could have dire consequences for the Wallabies. Australia coach Robbie Deans, who coached the Crusaders to five titles, always talks about the need for an Australian team, or teams, to be competing in the playoffs.

The All Blacks and Springboks have certainly drawn strength from champion teams such as the Crusaders and Bulls. It is no coincidence that only four teams - the Blues, Brumbies, Bulls and Crusaders - have won the first 15 Super Rugby titles between them.

Compare this to rugby union's main footballing rivals, AFL and rugby league.

Since the VFL-AFL introduced a salary cap in 1985, 11 teams - Essendon, Hawthorn, Carlton, Collingwood, West Coast, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Geelong - have won 25 premierships between them.

Rugby league introduced a salary cap in 1990 and 10 teams - Canberra, Penrith, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney Roosters, Canterbury, Wests Tigers, Manly and St George Illawarra - have shared the premierships in the space of 20 years.

There was no salary cap during the Super League war of 1997 and the Melbourne Storm was stripped of its two NRL premierships (2007 and 2009) for salary cap breaches.

The Brumbies are the only Australian team to win the Super Rugby title, lifting the trophy in 2001 and 2004. Those Brumbies teams were stacked with Wallabies greats, including George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff and George Smith.

Players did not gravitate to Canberra for the money necessarily but for the chance to improve their game and selection for the Wallabies. It was a different system altogether.

The Australian teams had a gentlemen's agreement that they would not pay players more than $110,000 plus expenses. The best players earnt most of their money from their ARU top-up.

The new salary cap system turns that on its head.

The teams can now pay whatever they like to individual players from their ARU grants of $4.4m, but cannot exceed the total amount on their whole squad, which is effectively the salary cap.

You can already see the spreading of talent begin with star Wallabies back Kurtley Beale leaving the Waratahs next year for the Rebels, who will become an anomalous team in an anomalous player payment system.

As a recruitment concession, the Rebels are allowed 10 foreign players (they only have eight this year), who are valued at only $147,000 under the salary cap, which gives them a real competitive advantage in the market.

But the Rebels will have to reduce their foreign quota to two players like the other Australian teams by 2016 when they will be on a level playing field.

The double whammy for the Australian teams is that the only Super Rugby conference operating under a salary cap will be the one which lacks the most depth of talent.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/sanzar-rivals-will-have-a-clear-advantage-in-super-rugby/story-e6frg7t6-1226045237355

ARU drum roll drones on and on

Wayne Smith From: The Australian April 30, 2011

IMAGINE what life would be like if you had nothing to look forward to. The Australian Rugby Union clearly has.

So it was that at 5.58pm on Easter Monday, it despatched a missive intended to get us positively quivering in anticipation. "Media alert," the email trumpeted. "Australian Rugby Union to announce major decision on the future of rugby in Australia."

I confess my initial response was somewhat muted. Now, if the ARU was going to announce a major decision on the future of, say Aussie rules or soccer in Australia, that might have got me going. Nothing like a little turf war to liven things up.

But then, almost in spite of myself, I started to ponder what this major initiative might be. Might John O'Neill be resigning as ARU chief executive, I wondered. Funny how that was the first thing to occur to me. No, I decided, the Easter Bunny had come the previous day. No more treats now until Christmas Day.

Might O'Neill be planning to restore the Australian Rugby Championship he had canned back in 2008? Now that would definitely have an impact on the future of rugby in Australia, and in the best way possible.

Who was I kidding? The ARU has just scraped back into the black this year and was about to dive into a swimming pool of red ink because of the World Cup, so there was no way it was going to make any investments in the future at this point.

Perhaps, I mused, the ARU was planning to smoke the peace pipe with all those volunteer officials across the country it had offended with its sneering and arrogant manner. Granted, my imagination was running away with me by now and it only required a moment's sober reflection to realise I was merely deluding myself.

Hours later, my mind was still whirring with all the possibilities open to the ARU to do some good for the game. Perhaps financially assisting those clubs it has made as irrelevant as towns bypassed by the Pacific Highway, no longer on the main road to Wallabyland. Or maybe it intended reversing its ludicrous decision to centralise all of the academies into two locations on the east coast.

But as each worthy possibility occurred to me, I could all too easily imagine the ARU knocking it on the head, like a kid in a sideshow stall, hammering away at everything that pops up. Understandably, I had a less than restful night.

I confess I was still bleary eyed when a new missive arrived from the ARU the next day. "Media alert," it screamed. "Rescheduling of announcement on the future of rugby in Australia," it read.

Omigod, I thought, the future of the game rescheduled. Until when? And why? The email provided no answers.

The ARU had suckered us in yet again. It had rung the bell and we, like Pavlov's dogs, had all started to salivate, only for the promised treat to be withheld.

I was way too distraught at this stage to pursue this any further but happily my esteemed colleague, Bret Harris, went to work to ferret out some answers. And what he came up with was just too staggering to be true.

The reason for the postponement, apparently, was because the ARU had forgotten it was Easter and hadn't taken into account that some of its special guests needed at the announcement couldn't, you know, be there.

As mind-boggling as that was, the real head-spinner was what was apparently going to be announced -- that the ARU has done a deal with the NSW government to guarantee a Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney every year for the next decade.

Now, following the admission of Argentina to SANZAR next year, the Wallabies will play the All Blacks only twice each season, one at home, one away. So either Sydney is going to be allocated a Bledisloe Test every year, to the exclusion of every other Australian city, or there is going to be an extra trans-Tasman Test in Sydney added to those seasons when Brisbane or Melbourne or some other city that is not Sydney hosts a Bledisloe.

The second option, though overbalanced in Sydney's favour, would at least boost the depleted coffers of the ARU. But if it's the first option, then that's way too much. In the 106-year history of Australia-NZ Tests, 63 have been played in Sydney, 17 in Brisbane and three in Melbourne. Since the game went professional in 1996, the breakdown has been 12-3-3. At a time when every competitor code is aggressively pushing forward, surely the ARU isn't going to shrink its horizons, just to get more short-term bang for its buck? Just how Sydney-centric is Australian rugby to become?

Who knows how long we'll be waiting for all these answers? It's all very well to have something to look forward to but some waits are infinitely more enjoyable than others.

As that great master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock once put it, there's no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/aru-drum-roll-drones-on-and-on/story-e6frg7v6-1226047225807

O'Neill ARU salary outflanks profit

Wayne Smith From: The Australian April 30, 2011

ARU chief executive John O'Neill's total salary almost doubled last year to $1.2 million.
That was at least $130,000 more than the organisation made in profit.

O'Neill's remuneration package customarily is recorded in the ARU's annual report, along with the fees paid to the other directors, but was conspicuously missing from the 2010 report, supposedly for reasons of confidentiality.

However, the ARU revealed O'Neill's salary at its annual general meeting in Sydney yesterday, although delegates were requested to keep the information confidential.

The Weekend Australian understands that O'Neill had been paid a total of $1.2m, 66 per cent of which was made up of his base salary, 11 per cent in medium-to-long-term incentives and 23 per cent in short-term incentives. He had been paid $688,750 in 2009.

By comparison, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, who announced a $1.253 billion broadcast deal for his code on Thursday, is paid an annual salary of $2.2m.

O'Neill's salary and the directors' fees add up to more than the combined allocations reportedly made to state rugby union bodies in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

ARU chairman Peter McGrath defended the national union's decision not to disclose O'Neill's salary, arguing it was not under any legal obligation to do so.

The ARU moved to a new financial reporting framework in 2008, which does not require disclosure of directors' remuneration. While the ARU had disclosed O'Neill's salary in previous annual reports, it decided to cease the practice because rival sports did not reveal directors' remuneration.

While the NRL does not disclose chief executive David Gallop's salary, the AFL did reveal its 11 member executive was paid $6.2m, including Demetriou's $2.2m salary.

McGrath also said many of the ARU's member unions did not disclose director remuneration in their annual reports.

"Under our financial reporting requirements we are not required to disclose director remuneration," McGrath said.

"During the meeting, however, (ARU director) Rick Lee gave a full, frank presentation to our members. He set out what everyone got.

"There is no legal requirement for us to disclose. We chose to disclose (to the AGM) to give a full report to our members."

Meanwhile, General Peter Cosgrove returned to the ARU board after a year's absence, replacing Mike Brown as a NSW nominated director.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/oneill-aru-salary-outflanks-profit/story-e6frg7o6-1226047218928

Rugby World Cup: Prices turn Aussie fans off Cup

12:34 PM Tuesday May 3, 2011

Expensive tickets and overpriced accommodation are deterring Australians from snapping up tickets for the Rugby World Cup across the ditch, travel agents have warned.

Total Sports Travel, an official agent for the Cup, said sales had been "less than ideal", with general manager Mike Jones saying there had been "plenty to put people off this year".

While sales started off well, they slowed dramatically over summer. Jones said he believed the Queensland floods were a significant deterrent and the Christchurch earthquake on February 22 "certainly didn't help".

"I think the disasters we've been having have made people wary and keen just to stay close to home," he said yesterday.

"In Queensland, there are a lot of people who have lost crops, who are trying to sort out their situations, and getting tickets for games they would usually be going to hasn't been a priority."

Jones said the global financial crisis had cooled off demand. High ticket prices and expensive accommodation were also factors, he said.

He said some hotels were charging up to five times more than their normal rate. "Australians like to think of New Zealand as a cheap destination, and usually it is but, as is usually the case in these situations, the prices of hotels are well up and the price of tickets are up, too. Trying to explain all this to people is really difficult."

Jones said he held out hope there would be a late run on sales. "We think of New Zealand as just across the ditch, a domestic market really, so we believe there will be a lot of late bookings," he said.

About 85,000 international visitors are expected for the Cup, 29,000 from Australia.

World Cup spokesman Shane Harmon was unconcerned, saying Australia was a short-haul market, and many travellers did not plan trips to New Zealand far in advance.

- AAP
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10723124

ARU's top secret was too sensitive

Wayne Smith From: The Australian May 07, 2011

EVERY now and then the Australian Rugby Union comes up with an idea that is so breathtakingly visionary, so utterly inspiring that all you can do is shake your head and say to yourself: "You've really gotta hand it to these guys".

One such idea surfaced at last week's annual general meeting. Actually, it had been percolating along for about a month or two beforehand, but it wasn't until the AGM that it actually came gushing forth like a frothy, overflowing cappuccino.

What was this wonderful idea, I hear you asking, your question tugging like a small child on a trouser leg. Well, if you behave, I'll tell you.

The idea was that it was not going to publicly reveal what it pays its chief executive John O'Neill and the other members of the board and not publish these amounts in its annual report like it always has. BUT, it would let the inner circle of AGM delegates in on the secret.

Now, be honest, you're sitting there shaking your head, aren't you? You're saying to yourself, "How breathtakingly visionary! How utterly inspiring!"

And how bloody sensible too. As the events of the past week in Pakistan have dramatically shown, some information is just too important, too sensitive to share. Who knows what damage could be done if it fell into the wrong hands. The ARU knows that. It knows that some operations, by their very nature, need to be clandestine. And, most important of all, it knows the Australian rugby public doesn't want to be bothered with detail. As long as the Wallabies get the All Blacks, dead or alive, that's all that matters.

Do the volunteers manning the sausage sizzle at junior sign-on days really need to be burdened with how much JON takes home each month? Of course not. They have enough on their plate. Well, strictly speaking, they don't have as much on their plate as they would like. Not so many kids queueing up for sausages this year, for some reason.

And speaking of the juniors, what about the selfish audacity of those NSW officials who are opposing the ARU plan to scrap the traditional system of sending three teams, Sydney Juniors, NSW Schools and Country to the national Under-16 carnival! Why have three teams ... well, apart from the fact that just about every NSW Wallaby ever has come through one of them ... when you can make do with two?

Think, too, of how dangerously distracting it could be to provide Waratahs fans with the details of ARU chairman Peter McGrath's remuneration. Their team is in trouble and they need to stay focused on what's important, like worrying about whether Phil Waugh will have to be let go because NSW can't fit him into their scaled-down salary cap.

And what reason is there for mums in Canberra and Perth and Melbourne to get uppity about what the ARU is paying its directors? Rugby mums have an important role to play in the game - in this case to demurely iron the training jersies and pack their sons off to Sydney or Brisbane after the ARU closes down the Brumbies, Force and Rebels academies and consolidates them all into two cost-cutting centres.

The ARU knows that there is such a thing as too much information and that letting people in on secrets way above their clearance level ultimately only distresses and confuses them. Some people need to be protected from themselves.

Truth be told, it didn't even want to divulge this vital information to the delegates and only did so because a few troublemakers threatened to go public if they didn't. Of course, the ARU warned them that once the genie was out of the bottle, there would be no way of getting it back in again. Inevitably, some bastard would surely leak.

And, you guessed it, there it was in the paper the very next day ... $1.2 million paid to JON. Hell, it even had the breakdown of how much was base salary, how much short-term incentives, how much long-term incentives. His effectiveness as an undercover agent was just shot. How could he carry out his behind-the-scenes role of telling people they've got to cut back and scale down important areas of the game when the first thing they come back at him with is: So why has your salary gone up by $500,000 over the past year?

Needless to say, Homeland Security has been brought in to investigate the leak and the ARU has provided it with the names of suspect troublemakers but, really, the damage has been done.

A sacred oath has been violated. Delegates were sworn to secrecy but someone, maybe several someones, chose to betray the organisation.

The ARU has been open and accountable and what good has it done? Never again!

Delegates aren't to be trusted. From now on, business must be conducted entirely on a need-to-know basis.

And you know what? You don't need to know anything!

So bugger off!

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/arus-top-secret-was-too-sensitive/story-e6frg7o6-1226051414705

Brumbies hit rock bottom

CHRIS DUTTON
14 May, 2011 10:05 PM

The ACT Brumbies’ miserable season hit rock bottom tonight and there’s no signs of improvement for the once Super Rugby power.

In an embarrassing performance, the Brumbies were beaten by the last-placed Johannesburg Lions as another exclamation mark was added to a nightmare season.

The Lions dominated for most of the match and won 29-20.

It was their first win in Canberra and just their fourth win against the Brumbies in Super Rugby history.

Adding more salt to the Brumbies’ open wounds is the fact the nine-point win was the Lions’ second victory in two Super Rugby seasons.

Not even captain Matt Giteau’s 100th match was enough incentive to snap the Brumbies out of their awful form. They have now lost nine matches this year – the most defeats in one season in the club’s history. They have won just two games this season and they are in serious danger of winning their first Super Rugby wooden spoon with five games remaining this year.

A cold night in the capital and the Brumbies’ dismal form saw 10,122 fans sit in the stands - the lowest crowd since 1999. Giteau did everything he could in his milestone match.

His chip and regather in the dying minutes set up a 99m try for winger Andrew Smith. But it was all too little, too late. The result was already gone and the Brumbies had already sunk to their lowest point in the club’s history.

In the end, a nine-point margin flattered the two-time Super Rugby champions. Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore said the team was “gutted”.

“The boys are trying pretty hard, things just aren’t happening for us,” Moore said.

“We’ve just got to stick tight, I know we’ve said it all year. But there’s no other way than to keep fighting.

“It’s very disappointing we didn’t [win for Giteau], he’s given this club so much.”

Neither team was interested in playing an advantage game early on. They both declined penalty shots at goal in the opening 10 minutes in favour of taking an attacking risk. And it was the Brumbies who were first to strike in the 11th minute. A Colby Faingaa break put the Brumbies right into the home side’s attacking zone and two phases later hooker Stephen Moore carried two defenders over the line to score the first try.

But while the Brumbies looked dangerous when they had the ball, they couldn’t contain the Lions’ forwards. The Lions continually dominated the Brumbies with a powerful maul from the lineout. They starved the Brumbies of possession for five minutes and Michael Rhodes reached out and slammed the ball down to score the Lions’ first try. The Brumbies’ discipline crippled them again.

They continually gave away penalties in the first half and made simple errors when they could have troubled the Lions’ defence. Instead it was the Lions who dominated the play with their strong forward movement and they had the Brumbies scrambling when winger Deon van Rensburg scored the team’s second try. It gave the last-placed Lions a slender two-point lead at half-time and the break provided no reprieve for the Brumbies. Four minutes into the second half Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies threw a magical flick pass to Alwyn Hollenbach and all of a sudden a stunned Brumbies line-up trailed 19-10.

Jantjies continued to tear the Brumbies apart and set up another try when he made a brilliant bust from inside his own half before finding Jaco Taute who secured a bonus point for the Lions. Smith’s try came too late with the game already out of the Brumbies’ reach.


AT A GLANCE

JOHANNESBURG LIONS 29 (Michael Rhodes, Deon van Rensburg, Alwyn Hollenbach, Jaco Taute tries; Elton Jantjies 3 conversions, penalty) bt

ACT BRUMBIES 20 (Stephen Moore, Andrew Smith tries; Matt Giteau 2 conversions, 2 penalties) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Nathan Pearce. Crowd: 10,122.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/rugby-union/brumbies-hit-rock-bottom/2163200.aspx?storypage=0

Rugby falls behind NRL in code war

Rebecca Wilson From: The Daily Telegraph May 21, 2011

THE worlds of rugby union and rugby league are poles apart in NSW. To those living in southern states, they are all just called "rugby".

But in and around Sydney, the world's toughest football market, New South Welshmen are born to one or the other and never the twain shall meet.

This week, though, proved one thing once and for all. The culture of both codes in NSW is on its knees and only one code is trying to stop the bleeding.

Rugby union has been haemorrhaging in NSW for five years.

The last two years have seen the alleged home of the code in Australia deteriorate to a point that the team which used to proudly don the waratah has so few genuine fans left that you feel like it may even shut up shop.

The situation is so bad for the Super XV franchise that the local rugby union conducted a fans forum one night through the week. In a feeble attempt to close the widening gap between loyal fans and the team, several big name players and the coach attended.

They were blown away by the level of angst in fan ranks. This is one of the most hated teams in the world and that is by its own followers.

The complaints ranged from the Waratahs' turgid style of rugby through to the dislocation of club rugby from the elite form of the game.

These fans are the ones who bothered to turn up at the forum. The game has lost those fringe followers who enjoyed a night out at the footy followed up by a drink at one of the eastern suburbs' famous pubs after the game.

They realised several seasons ago that the Waratahs matches were not exactly a hub of enjoyment.

The Sydney Football Stadium is a sensational place to watch footy but it is as if a giant vacuum cleaner goes to the ground before the Waratahs play and sucks the life out of it.

The fans told the players and the bosses on Thursday night that they were "mediocre", and "arrogant". One fan who stopped going to games eight years ago was scathing: "We have been dished up mediocrity week after week and we're supposed to accept that. I feel sorry ... that culture is so entrenched in this particular team."

He is, of course, right. The joys of running rugby disappeared when former coach Ewen McKenzie was sent packing several seasons ago.

I attended a game last season with a group of friends who vowed they would never go to a rugby match with me ever again. It was truly terrible. McKenzie has turned up in Queensland where the wonderful Reds have been reborn under his tutelage. They play the game the way all great rugby should be played with exuberance and joy.

The mob in blue jerseys hide behind statistics and grinding wins to defend their style of play.

There is no sense of wanting to improve things. Running the ball happens about twice a game and more often than not, the forwards stop passing the ball in what appears to be a grudge against the backs.

The fan forum proved that the elite playing group believe they are in the right and everyone else is not.

They have a long way to go if they hope to stay afloat.

Contrast that attitude with that of new rugby league State of Origin coach, Ricky Stuart. One of the most competitive people I have ever met, Stuart has set about rebuilding and restoring the Blues league culture.

After five years of misery, the administrators finally decided to copy the Queensland approach to Origin football. Stuart has surrounded his new batch of Blues with Origin legends, league experts and diehard fans. He has encouraged jingoism and told his players that he has enormous faith in them, no matter what the result next Wednesday night.

With an investment of time in Stuart and his young bloods, NSWleague will rebuild and restore itself in the fans' psyche. It may take another three years but rest assured it will happen.

As for the rugby union lot, there is little chance of redemption. Fans are deserting the team in their droves. The disenchantment at suburban games is palpable and driving people away every week.

The Australian Rugby Union must take some responsibility for the mess. Rugby culture in NSW has been a resilient beast but it is buckling under the weight of so many years of rotten culture and poor administration.

When teenage boys who play the game turn down free tickets to games, you have a massive problem.

When sponsors cannot fill boxes or pre-match functions, a funding crisis cannot be far away.

The first way out of a mess is to admit you are in the middle of one. League has done that. Union hasn't and shows no sign of facing its demons anytime soon.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/rugby-falls-behind-nrl-in-code-war/story-e6frexnr-1226059830499

Disruptions planned for Rugby World Cup

7:07 PM Friday May 27, 2011

A protest group has said they will disrupt the Rugby World Cup (RWC) to highlight to the world the Government's economic policies.

Groups opposed to the Government's planned changes to KiwiSaver, family tax credits and public services and state asset sales, announced in last week's Budget, will march along Auckland's Queen Street tomorrow.

Spokesman Meredydd Barrar, of the Coalition for Social Justice, said the groups also "intend to take action during the RWC to alert the world that New Zealand is not as squeaky clean as people might perceive".

Earlier this year Maori activists Titewhai Harawira and Ngaire Te Hira said they planned to use the tournament to "expose" New Zealand's treatment of Maori, and Unite Union has said hotel workers whose collective agreements expire during the cup will seek a 10 per cent share of room rentals.

Former Green MP Sue Bradford, who will speak at tomorrow's march on behalf of Auckland Action Against Poverty, said budget cuts for public services were in stark contrast to tax breaks for rugby.

Another speaker, Meg Moss, head teacher of the MiniMarc childcare centre at the Mt Albert Research Centre, said early childhood centres were still reeling from cuts in last year's budget and would not stop protesting just because of the rugby games.

"It would be unpopular but it would make an impact," she said.

- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10728514

Cash-strapped Hurricanes pass cap around

MARC HINTON Last updated 14:38 29/05/2011

The troubled Hurricanes franchise has gone to its member provincial rugby unions asking for financial assistance.

The Wellington-based Super Rugby franchise is looking at a huge financial deficit this season, largely caused by the cancellation of the round-two game against the Crusaders back in February.

The decision to call that game off because of the Christchurch earthquake cost the Hurricanes $450,000 and as well as going to the NZRU for financial assistance, as the Crusaders have also done, the Hurricanes have approached the nine unions inside their boundaries.

NZRU rules stipulate that every year the Hurricanes, like the other four New Zealand franchises, have to start with a balance of zero and profits are handed out to the provinces. Over the years the Hurricanes have handed out $13.2m to their provinces, but in these financially tougher times they've asked to do the reverse.

"The big difference this year is the financial impact of the earthquake," said Hurricanes CEO James Te Puni. "While that's primarily been felt by the Crusaders, it has hit the Hurricanes because we made a decision, the right decision, not to insist on that game of the week of the earthquake.

"The consequence of that decision is that it's hit our bottom line by a big extent.

"It's really an issue for the stakeholder unions in the Hurricanes, the NZRU and Sanzar and we're working through that with all of them.

"If we'd had that game then we wouldn't be in that position. We'd be close to break-even."

Manawatu CEO John Knowles said his union won't be able to help out because they have enough financial problems of their own.

"We don't have any ability to pay any money," he said.

"We're trying to survive ourselves, without being able to throw any money at this. It's really disappointing that all of the Super Rugby teams are struggling financially, but it's a sign of the times."

But Hawke's Bay CEO Mike Bishop said his province can help out.

"We put our hand up and said we can help," Bishop said.

"We've had discussions about what we do to make sure the Hurricanes are not insolvent on an annual basis.

"It was caused by circumstances that none of us would want to be a part of. Our province more than anywhere knows what it's like to have a disaster caused by an earthquake."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/5070258/Cash-strapped-Hurricanes-pass-cap-around

Record crowd witnesses Queensland Reds' epic win over Crusaders

Wayne Smith From: The Australian May 30, 2011

A RECORD Australian Super Rugby crowd of 48,301 willed the Queensland Reds to arguably their greatest triumph of the professional era at Suncorp Stadium yesterday, a one-point win over the Crusaders in a match of Bledisloe-like intensity.

A controversial last-minute penalty against Richie McCaw directly in front of his posts presented Quade Cooper with the chance to atone for his three earlier goalkicking misses and this time the Reds magician got it right to pull a famous victory out of the hat, 17-16.

The All Blacks captain wore a look like thunder as his nemesis of the Hong Kong Test last October stroked through the winning goal. It was a look that promised fearsome retribution from the Crusaders when next these two sides meet, which might well be in the final on July 9.

Mad as he was at himself, a large part of his barely suppressed rage was also directed at Australian referee Stu Dickinson, with whom he verbally sparred throughout the game as the penalty count against his side steadily mounted to 11-6.

In McCaw's mind, reserve prop Ben Franks had counter-rucked over the ball and that meant he was entitled to play at it. Dickinson thought otherwise.

"When you think you're in the right and you're not, what can you say?" asked the Crusaders captain through gritted teeth.

But no contest ever ascends to the rating of "epic" without the leavening of a refereeing controversy and this match had that and so much more. So ferocious was the battle, so murderous the pace, that by the hour-mark the two fittest teams in the competition had been reduced to a walk. "It was then that we said we had to be at the right end of the park," said McCaw. "A mistake can cost you the game. Being in the right place can win you the game."

When the Reds, under enormous pressure on their line, conceded critical penalties that Dan Carter converted into points in the 67th and 73rd minutes to put his side ahead 16-14, it appeared it was going to be the Crusaders who yet again had worked themselves into the right place at the right time.

But the Reds, desperate to provide some measure of solace to backrower Jake Schatz following the recent death of his mother Allison from breast cancer, had one last fling in them and fought their way downfield for Cooper to seal their 12th straight Suncorp win. Reds coach Ewen McKenzie was adamant the Crusaders remain favourites to win the tournament, even though they now have slipped five points astern of the Blues in the NZ conference. As for the Reds, who opened up a four-point lead at the top of the table, it is still too early to talk of home finals.

Rarely does such a hugely anticipated contest deliver more than was hoped for, but this one did. And McKenzie admitted he was awestruck at the never-ending thrust and parry of two sides hurling everything at each other.

"It was a game that had line breaks, then turnovers and then counter-attack 90 metres in the other direction and then it comes back again . . . I haven't seen a game like that," said McKenzie.

Much-hyped All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams gave his all to break the Reds' line, but opposing centres Anthony Faingaa and Ben Tapuai never flinched in their defence.

If the Reds' overall defence was outstanding, it needed to be because the Crusaders were taking all sorts of liberties with their set pieces, even if the Reds' first try, to Tapuai, came directly from a lineout and their second, by man of the match Will Genia, one phase on from a dishevelled scrum.

Rival playmakers Cooper and Carter had a profound impact on the game, each in their own inimitable fashion, Carter with his uncanny reading of the play, Cooper with his freakish ability to turn perilous situations into full-blown attacking opportunities.

The Reds paid a heavy price for their victory, with dynamic flanker Beau Robinson suffering a dislocated elbow. Surely, the ARU must get its priorities right and send Queensland's next best opensider Liam Gill home from the Under 20 World Cup in Italy.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/record-crowd-witnesses-queensland-reds-epic-win-over-crusaders/story-e6frg7o6-1226065182227

Sanzar chief: Concern about crowd numbers
By Wynne Gray 5:30 AM Monday May 30, 2011


During the build-up to and birth of Super 15, chief executive Greg Peters has logged a few travel miles.

He wanted to deal personally with people involved and needed to show his face on more than teleconference or Skype calls.

It was part of the deal in taking on the duties as boss of the group controlling the New Zealand, Australian and South African rugby competition.

He is now in London on a six-day hit-and-run mission as part of a rugby economics forum looking at different ways of divvying up the money in the game.

He left Sydney last Tuesday and is due back on Sunday in time to watch the Reds-Crusaders clash at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Peters' schedules are exhausting, but he knew that when he signed on for the job.

Once the initial series champion is crowned, he and his crew are setting themselves for an even bigger travelogue.

"We want to go round and see every franchise and talk to the coaches, managers and CEOs to get a full debrief," he said.

"We need to get a comprehensive view on the management and running of the tournament.

We will also look for ideas but there are caveats on that because the structure is largely settled and has been sold to broadcasters.

"We will also be talking about the way the game is played, refereed and run."

Peters will travel with the Super 15 game manager Lyndon Bray, operations manager Brendan Morris and Anthony MacKaiser, who deals with media and marketing.

"We think there will be learnings for all three partners and ideas we want to take a longer look at. We think the best way of doing that is fronting up and talking to the franchises."

In previous years, the Super rugby competition was heading into its final stages about now but the extended conference system and playoffs mean the final is set for July 9.

Crowds and television viewership in Australia are well up and Peters puts that down to the Reds' efforts and increased work of Fox Sports broadcasters.

The new Rebels side was battling for results but was also pulling crowds averaging 18,000 to home games.

Viewership in South Africa was down while crowds were comparable with last year with peaks for cross-conference matches such as the Crusaders-Stormers duel.

Crowds in New Zealand were flat though local derbies, on average, were pulling in about 4000 more spectators than other matches.

The Christchurch earthquake had had an effect because all the Crusaders' games had to be moved, while the Chiefs had been hit by many games in poor weather and the Hurricanes had not performed as they wanted.

"Those are pockets of concern about crowd numbers not being what we would like," Peters agreed.

"We would like to see New Zealand bounce back but we are comfortable where we are at.

"There is a lot of rugby to be played in September/October so maybe people are waiting for that."

He acknowledged that some things such as awarding four points for a bye and getting more consistency in refereeing and judicial rulings would be looked at.

But the Super 15 model was locked in for five years with the commercial partners and any adjustments would be tweaks rather than wrenches.

By Wynne Gray | Email Wynne

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10728912

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The slow resale of World Cup tickets from relocated Christchurch matches was causing concern for organisers still hoping for a final surge to achieve their targets, the tournament chief executive said Wednesday.


All seven matches originally scheduled for Christchurch, including two quarter-finals, had to be relocated after a February 22 earthquake devastated much of the central city and eastern suburbs and badly damaged Lancaster Park.

The tournament, which runs from September 9-October 23, kicks off in 100 days and the milestone will be marked with a glitzy ceremony at New Zealand's Parliament later Wednesday.

"It's a pretty tough ask because there is a big difference in going to events in your own city and then being asked to think about having to go all around New Zealand," said Rugby New Zealand 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden.

"We always expected the quarter-finals would have a reasonable take-up and the England-Argentina match (now in Dunedin) would do okay but the rest of the matches are far more likely to be affected badly by what has happened," he told Radio New Zealand.

Organisers had to refund about NZ$20 million (10 million pounds) worth of tickets after the Christchurch matches were relocated. The resales have so far only been available to those who had purchased tickets for the Christchurch matches.

Snedden said the organisers would not confirm the exact resale figures until shortly before all the remaining tickets were released for general sale on July 4.

Tournament organisers are only allowed to keep revenue generated from ticket sales and must underwrite the costs of hosting the tournament and pay a licence fee to the world governing International Rugby Board.

Organisers had budgeted for ticket revenue of about $268 million (163 million pounds) and an operating loss of about $40 million, which is to be underwritten by the New Zealand government and New Zealand Rugby Union.

Snedden also said that with just 100 days to go until the start, the tournament was now causing him some moments of anxiety and sleepless nights.

"It's interesting, at the moment this is my life and naturally I get excited but a bit anxious and there is a realisation this means a lot for New Zealand and I want to see the event succeed for New Zealand, so sometimes I do miss a bit of sleep."

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Ken Ferris)

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1549586/Slow-World-Cup-ticket-resales-a-concern-say-organisers

Rugby's global warming

Tatafu Polota-Nau From: The Daily Telegraph June 04, 2011 12:00AM

DID you know Sri Lanka has a thriving rugby community?

No, nor did I until recently. But it got me thinking about how rugby truly is a global game, and what a great job we have got being able to travel around the world playing it.

As a player, we get the privilege of experiencing other countries and finding out what they're all about. It is particularly valuable for people like Tom Carter, who really need a bit of culture and to realise there is a world outside of Sydney Uni. He is yet to figure out there are actually roads that go west of Camperdown, unlike a good Parramatta boy like me.

I reckon Australia would be a favourite touring destination in world rugby but, for us, few places top South Africa. You don't find much tougher rugby around the world, and what's more, it's the number one oval-ball code here.

It's a rugby-mad nation but within that sort of environment, you can't spend all day, every day with your mind on rugby so you have find balance.

Balance is basically a word for keeping busy away from training and in South Africa, balance is easy to find.

It is a place where there are so many things to do. You have the backs who love going to the beach, you have us tight forwards who love finding steak joints and munching on a few rumps or two. Coffee is common ground, and we make the backs pay.

We have locals who act as liaison officers and they tee us up with all sorts of activities for days off. Blokes have gone diving with great white sharks in the past, some see wild animals, a few guys surf.

Last week we took a quick fishing trip off the coast of Durban, and in between moans from a seasick Michael Foley we caught 26 fish. (Not with traditional Tongan spearfishing, mind you. It was too deep). We brought tuna and snapper back and the Japanese chef at our hotel prepared them for dinner. Delicious.

It's a great social aspect, and without fail serves to strengthen team bonds.

Don't get me wrong. Down time is enjoyable but it's no Club Med holiday trip. We train hard on a daily basis and the focus is purely on winning games of footy.

South Africa is a place of great diversity and contrasts. Driving from Cape Town airport to the affluent coastal hotel strip you pass kilometres of shanty towns.

It is a reminder of how fortunate you are.

But one thing that unites South Africans is their love of rugby. Walk down the street and people stop you and recite your stats.

It's all really friendly but come Saturday that same person will transform into a different beast.

Part of my job involves standing on the sideline and throwing the ball in, and I have been offered some choice advice about places to go and get fruit over the years.

I enjoy it. You have to embrace it. You occasionally give them a bit of banter back but the only place you can really silence them is on the scoreboard.

Altitude is a factor in some places and so is jet lag. Travelling 15 hours west is tough and different teams have different methods to beat it.

Basically, you can't.

These days you're told to sleep as soon as you get on the plane in Sydney to adjust your body clock.

That works in well for me.

I have been known to look after the security of people's hand luggage on flights while they sleep.

A half-dozen cable-ties usually keeps a bag in the overhead locker nice and tight.

It might delay a rookie getting off but you can't be too security conscious in the modern world.

No thanks needed, I'm just helping out.

I don't mind planes. Given you always have to consider life after rugby, after we got knocked out by the Stormers last year, I tried my hand as a flight attendant.

I borrowed an apron - it was tight - and squeezed down the aisles in cattle class handing out bread rolls and Weis Bars like an old hand.

Funny though. I sent in my CV, but Qantas still haven't got back to me.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/rugby/rugbys-global-warming/story-e6frey4i-1226069006143

Is it Tah Tah or not to the SFS?

Bret Harris From: The Australian June 11, 2011

SIDESTEPPING has never really been part of Phil Waugh's skills set, but he wrong-footed the media when queried about his future yesterday.

Facing the prospect of playing his last game at the Sydney Football Stadium for NSW, Waugh had absolutely no interest in talking about his playing future.

Waugh, who has played for NSW since 1999, is out of contract at the end of the year and a mutual decision is yet to be made about whether he will continue his career with the Waratahs.

Asked about his playing future after the captain's run at the SFS yesterday, Waugh showed clever evasive skills.

"I've just been focusing on getting back out on the field really," said Waugh, who is returning from a hamstring injury for the must-win game against the Highlanders in Sydney tonight.

"I suppose the time will come where the future does need to be decided. At the moment I'm just looking forward to getting out on the field, getting some good game-time and playing well.

"To be honest, I haven't thought too far down the road.

"It's about getting out on the field and performing and leading the guys well. It's been a bit of a frustrating year with injuries and things. I just want to get out there and play well."

While Waugh's future remains undecided, you could appreciate why he was so focused on tonight's game. If Waugh does not continue with the Waratahs, this will be his last chance to realise his dream of leading NSW to the Super Rugby title.

But before the Waratahs can start to think about winning the title, they have to win their final two regular-season games against the Highlanders and the Brumbies to reach the playoffs.

"If we don't win this game, next week is irrelevant," Waugh said. "We are fully aware of that. I'm sure the Highlanders are in the same position."

Waugh has not played since tearing his hamstring in the Waratahs' loss to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane seven weeks ago.

While he was on the sideline, the Waratahs beat the Melbourne Rebels, Western Force and Lions at home and lost to the Sharks and the Bulls on the road.

"I think we've played some good rugby," said Waugh, who will form a new-look backrow with Wycliff Palu and Dave Dennis.

"It's critical to take points away when you do play good rugby.

"It was frustrating last week (against the Bulls). We played so much good rugby in that first 40 minutes and we only went into half-time with six points.

"Hopefully, we can consolidate a lot of pressure into points rather than looking good but walking away with minimal points.

"It's important to consolidate pressure and put it on the scoreboard.

"If we deserve to be in the finals, we'll get there. It's important to take momentum into the finals."

Meanwhile, loosehead prop Benn Robinson (foot), winger Lachie Turner (hamstring) and secondrower Dean Mumm (calf) proved their fitness at training yesterday and were named in the team to play the Highlanders.

Mumm hardly trained with the team, but Robinson and Turner got through the session.

"Dean was only going to have a couple of runs," coach Chris Hickey said. "He felt pretty good after that. That's a good sign.

"Benn Robbo got through the team run. Lachie Turner also got through what he needed to get through without necessarily running at top speed."

The Waratahs have maintained a five-two split between forwards and backs on the reserves' bench, but Josh Holmes has replaced Brendan McKibban as the back-up halfback because of his greater versatility, being able to play centre and wing.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/is-it-tah-tah-or-not-to-the-sfs/story-e6frg7o6-1226073284535

Melbourne Rebels have made successful start in Super Rugby - Ross Oakley

Russell Gould From: Herald Sun June 13, 2011

MELBOURNE Rebels chief executive Ross Oakley has given the club the ultimate compliment, labelling it the most successful start-up in which he has been involved.

The man credited with taking the AFL national, and who worked on the formation of clubs such as West Coast, said the Rebels "took the cake" for making an immediate impact and getting things right.

Despite a seven-game losing streak, including Friday's wooden-spoon sealing loss to the ACT Brumbies in Canberra, and just three wins for the season, Oakley was buoyed by a positive membership survey which backed solid TV ratings and average crowds of 18,000.

An independent survey of members found 83 per cent indicated they were likely to renew next year.

The members also gave the Rebels line-up an overall mark of 7.2 out of 10.

With the final game of the season against Western Force at AAMI Park on Friday, Oakley said there was no hiding from the fact on-field work had to be done.

But he said three wins, a better first season than Force and South Africa's Cheetahs and Lions, didn't have to be the only indicator of success.

"How we judge the season in the first year is not games only. There are a lot of things you have to do in year one," Oakley said.

PRETORIA Bulls kept their Super Rugby title hopes alive with a tense 19-16 win against the Stormers in Cape Town yesterday, while the Natal Sharks fought back from a 21-point deficit to steal a 30-30 draw with the lowly Lions in Johannesburg.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/rugby-union/melbourne-rebels-have-made-successful-start-in-super-rugby-ross-oakley/story-e6frfgkf-1226073956610