Rugby: Australia back NZ in costs row

WELLINGTON: Australia backed New Zealand’s call for changes to international rugby financing, but stopped short of following the All Blacks’ threat to boycott the 2015 World Cup. The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) Chief Executive John O’Neill described commercial arrangements surrounding the World Cup as ‘the elephant in the room’, saying they forced major unions into the red every four years. O’Neill said his New Zealand counterpart Steve Tew’s criticisms of how the International Rugby Board (IRB) handled commercial issues arising from the tournament were ‘real, substantial and, importantly, not new’. Tew said this week that current arrangements penalised major unions because Test schedules were curtailed in World Cup years – costing TV revenues and gate receipts – and teams could not promote their sponsors at the tournament.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th,  2011.