1
Australia star Fardy slams SANZAAR as 'faceless men in suits'
By Peter Hanson
Australia international Scott Fardy has labelled Super Rugby's governing body SANZAAR as "faceless men in suits" following the decision to cull three teams from the competition.
The 18-team format in Super Rugby will be trimmed back to 15 from next season with one Australian and two South African sides to be cut.
One of Melbourne Rebels or Western Force will be chopped in Australia, although the process may become a drawn out affair if the teams follow up on suggestions they could take legal action against the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).
Fardy, who plays for Brumbies, is to leave the competition at the end of the season to join Leinster, but the Wallabies lock took a parting shot at SANZAAR over the uncertainty players are facing.
"It's disappointing it's taken this long but is anyone surprised? This is the game we're in, it's been like this for a long time," he told reporters.
"The officialdom in this game has always been like that.
"Obviously everyone looks at the ARU at the moment but you wouldn't know who the head of SANZAAR is at any point - I wouldn't know what he looks like.
"In other sports, especially in Australia, you have a head we can look at. In SANZAAR rugby we don't know who is running it.
"It's faceless men in suits in board rooms."
On the future of players at the Force and the Rebels, Fardy added: "It's guys' livelihoods. It's incredibly tough for players to have go through that.
"I'm hoping that with all that stuff we get change so we're not having these conversations in five or 10 years."
Watch every game of Super Rugby live on rugbypass.com, home of the best online rugby coverage including news, highlights, previews & reviews, live scores, and more!
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
Go to comments