Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLennan yesterday said that their New Zealand counterpart is trying to dictate the terms of a possible trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition, amid reports that New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is seeking to limit the number of Australian teams involved.
Super Rugby was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of the southern hemisphere competition is being discussed.
Australia and New Zealand have each started their own domestic competitions involving their Super Rugby teams and while there is support for a trans-Tasman version, details such as how many teams should be involved have yet to be ironed out.
“I love New Zealand and its people and we have strong cultural ties and a rich rugby heritage, but it feels a bit master-servant at the moment,” McLennan told the Sydney Morning Herald. “If we’re building up to the World Cup and rebuilding Australian rugby, we need the maximum amount of teams in the competition.”
Australia has fielded four teams in Super Rugby since 2018, but invited the Western Force, who were dumped from the competition after 2017, to join Super Rugby AU.
New Zealand’s Super Rugby Aotearoa features all five of the country’s Super Rugby sides.
McLennan said that RA wanted to include the Force in any new competition, making it at least 10 teams, while reports in New Zealand media have said that NZR wants just two or three Australian teams in a trans-Tasman tournament.
“From what I’ve heard, the Super Rugby clubs on both sides of the Tasman have been speaking and I hear they want a full-blown trans-Tasman competition as well,” McLennan said. “What we have is a much larger population of 25 million and a bigger economy, and it would be very sad if New Zealand didn’t tap into that.”
On the field, the Melbourne Rebels and the Queensland Reds drew 18-18 in a scrappy Super Rugby AU contest played in front of a small crowd at Brookvale Oval after the novelty of golden-point extra time failed to separate the sides.
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