New Zealand Rugby has traditionally been conservative around embracing major change, and said in 2015 it wouldn’t want to disrupt the Super Rugby season. But after the COVID-19 period proved innovative scheduling can be successful, Herbert said rugby needs to start thinking like commercially driven US sporting bodies.
“People still have deep ties to their teams and their sports, but they know it is a mass entertainment product,” he said. “We are half-pregnant sometimes with rugby where we are trying to hold onto the amateur ethos and traditions … whereas the reality is the professional game is now reliant on those that fund it. So you need to make sure we are building these mass entertainment products.
“That constant battle with tradition is something rugby, given we are only professional less than 30 years, we are still hanging onto a lot of the amateur baggage, in my view. 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?
Andrew Kellaway scores in the 2022 Bledisloe Cup.Credit: Getty
”And it’s no secret the sports that are doing this well, they’re working. The NRL are doing some good things, they started to operate like an American-type sport and it’s grown in its commercial appeal. Rugby, we love the tradition, we want to hold onto what we can, but we can’t hold onto it so much we choke the opportunity ahead of us.”
Rebels future
After a two-month extension, the administrator’s report on the Melbourne Rebels is due on Friday. It is expected the report will contain a recommendation on whether the Rebels should be liquidated, or if the option exists for the club to continue via the funding of a new consortium, reportedly being put together by the former directors.
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Herbert said RA had “very little communication” from the former directors and very little detail about the new consortium’s plan. Rugby Australia holds the Rebels’ licence and while Hebert said there had been “scenario testing”, he declined to speculate on the franchise’s future.
But he gave a strong indication the club won’t continue when correcting a Phil Waugh comment in February that performance would be a factor in RA’s decision. The Rebels sit fourth on the table and are set to play in the finals.
“It is more about the financial viability of the franchise,” Herbert said. “We are not in a position to pay a lot of money into an entity at the moment. It is effectively the game’s money. Putting money into something that is continually loss-making, and there is no evidence that that can – I guess – change in the future. It is taking money away from other franchises, community rugby, women’s rugby and everything else.”
Asked about reports the Jaguares had been approached about rejoining Super Rugby in 2026, Herbert played down the speculation, saying it was premature.
Filipo Daugunu of the Rebels celebrates a try during the round two Super Rugby Pacific match.Credit: Rugby Australia
“That would have to be a decision between Rugby Australia and New Zealand rugby, and it would have to be considered right through,” he said. “It is not what we are considering at the moment. It is not something that, in my knowledge, is advanced at all.”
Left out of the party
Herbert said Rugby Australia was concerned about New Zealand and South Africa formulating a plan for old-fashioned tours in 2026 and 2031, which will see an eight-nine-game tour played during the Rugby Championship window.
Jordie Barrett runs the ball up in the Rugby World Cup final.Credit: Getty
It would mean a truncated Rugby Championship for the Wallabies and Argentina, which would mean a reduction in the much-relied upon Test revenue. Herbert said Australia would be looking for compensation if they were to approve.
“It is a concern. One of the ramifications of not being as competitive, in terms of the Wallabies on the field, is you are not considered in that same regard, when it comes to the most profitable and commercial products,” Herbert said.
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“We are deep in conversations at the moment, with our SANZAAR partners. It is still not locked in, but it is something we need to get comfortable with and work out if that does go ahead, what does that mean? Both financially, and from a content point of view.”
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