1
'Reeks of desperation': Ex-Super Rugby star's warning to RA over competition threat
By Sam Smith
A title-winning former Super Rugby star has issued a warning to Rugby Australia [RA] chairman Hamish McLennan over his claims that Australia may abandon Super Rugby Pacific.
ADVERTISEMENT
McLennan dropped a bombshell last week when he told Fox Sports that RA is strongly considering forging ahead with Super Rugby on its own by creating a domestic competition to rival the NRL and AFL from 2024 onwards.
McLennan has reportedly informed New Zealand Rugby [NZR] chairman Stewart Mitchell of RAās stance on the matter, and that āall bets are offā with NZR beyond the two organisationsā Super Rugby Pacific partnership, which expires next year.
Video Player is loading.
This is a modal window.
The Video Cloud video was not found.
Error Code: VIDEO_CLOUD_ERR_VIDEO_NOT_FOUND
Session ID: 2025-05-24:ed6b33861c3c08825ce9055b Player Element ID: brightcove-embedded-video
Itās widely perceived that an imbalanced split of broadcast revenue is at the heart of McLennanās threat to ditch RAās Kiwi counterparts, with NZR raking in a reported $98m from its broadcast partner Sky, the parent company of this publication.
That dwarfs the reported $36.3m deal RA has in place with Channel Nine and Stan, which was signed after previous versions of Super Rugby ā involving teams from South Africa, Argentina and Japan ā saw broadcast revenue shared evenly between participating unions.
Fox Sports reports that McLennan has the backing of the RA board and Australiaās five Super Rugby Pacific franchises, but his comments have been met with strong backlash.
Ex-All Blacks trio Jeff Wilson, Sir John Kirwan and Mils Muliaina were united in their condemnation of McLennanās comments on The Breakdown this week, describing them as ācrapā and āthe dumbest political decision that they [RA] could makeā.
ADVERTISEMENT
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark added fuel to the fire when he told Stuff on Tuesday that McLennanās comments āhave harmed all 12 clubs and the futureā of Super Rugby Pacific.
Former Wallabies hooker Jeremy Paul has also criticised McLennan, telling SENZ that a move by RA to break away from Super Rugby Pacific is āone of the stupidest things Iāve ever heardā.
Now former Highlanders and Crusaders lock Joe Wheeler has followed suit in his latest appearance on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
Wheeler, a Super Rugby champion with the Highlanders in 2015, labelled McLennan as āa fish head in the boardroomā whose comments were ālaughableā and āreeks of desperationā.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ex-Maori All Blacks representative added that McLennan is ākidding himselfā if he believes Super Rugby Pacific would be beneficial for Australian rugby, and suggested that he proceeds with caution when it comes to negotiating RAās future.
āHeās shooting from the hip. For me, it just reeks of desperation,ā Wheeler told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
āWe need them just as much as they need us, and if they want the Wallabies to be successful, heās kidding himself if he thinks playing an all-Australian competition is the answer to that.
āThey struggled to fill their squads with quality across the board. They still have to rely on New Zealand talent to fill a lot of those spots as well. I think itās laughable, for me.
āThey need money, thereās no two ways about it. Their broadcast deal pales in significance to the NZR deal with Sky Television, so heās just wanting a piece of the pie to keep their game going, but Iād be really careful.
āTheyāre struggling to keep their talent as it is, and if they were to exit Super Rugby, I think thereād be even more of their talent thatād be looking offshore, if not to New Zealand Super franchises, to Japan and Europe like they have been the last few years.
āItās a dangerous line heās walking there and I hope itās not, because this competition had real integrity and a lot of the games were really competitive, and the Australian teams are developing nicely.
āIād be interested to hear Dave Rennieās take on that rather than a fish head in the boardroom, actually what Dave Rennie thinks, what his Super Rugby teams need to do, where they need to be to develop the best Wallabies side they can.ā
Rennie responded to McLennanās comments earlier this week by expressing an understanding that RA needs more broadcast revenue, but he still urged RA to remain in Super Rugby Pacific.
āI think itās good for both countries that we play trans-Tasman footy,ā Rennie said.
āI think the competition has been excellent this year, and our sides have been more competitive. I think itās good for them, itās good for us. Iād like to see that continue.
āTheyāve got some of the best players in the world. You want to be playing the best players. Thatās how we will get better and be challenged, so itās important.ā
Former All Blacks and Blues hooker James Parsons, meanwhile, provided a more diplomatic response when asked on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod what it would mean for rugby in New Zealand and Australia if RA left Super Rugby Pacific.
āI suppose all I can talk about is my experiences and all the conversations Iāve had so far has been really positive about where Super Rugby Pacific can get to next year and into the future,ā Parsons, who is now employed the New Zealand Rugby Playersā Association, said.
āBut, understanding that if theyāve changed their mind around that, [RA] must know their landscape really well and they must genuinely believe that that could be a potentially better opportunity for them and the Wallabies.
āThatās their prerogative, isnāt it? You canāt question them on that, and Iām not going to question it here because I donāt know the landscape of their game as well as they will, but I do think the benefits go both ways, definitely in terms of where both international squads can get to.
āIf itās not meant to be, itās not meant to be, and I think every situation like this, some good can come from it as well.ā
McLennan has since doubled down on his intial comments, suggesting to the Sydney Morning Herald that the reaction from New Zealand is reflective of āwhy they [NZR] are not good partnersā to work with.
āBring it on. I was laughing about it. It didnāt worry me at all. Those guys are not privy to the actions of NZR in recent times,ā he told the Sydney Morning Herald before blaming NZR for the exit of South Africa and Argentina from Super Rugby.
āTheir aggressive reaction towards Australia perhaps shows why they are not good partners. They have reacted so violently when weāve honoured their two-year deal.
āWhy are they so annoyed at us exercising our right to explore our options when they forcibly kicked out South Africa and Argentina from Super Rugby for good?
āSouth Africa leaving SANZAAR will have a far more devastating impact on rugby in our part of the world.ā
McLennan has been supported in his views by former Wallabies captain Phil Kearns, who claimed NZR āhave been taking advantage of Australiaās weakness over the last 20 yearsā.
āYouāve got to be quite pragmatic about this and if New Zealand donāt want to be a partner, then thatās OK,ā Kearns told The Rugby Roar Podcast.
āWeāll go it alone or find someone else to partner with. Weāve got great friends in Fiji and Moana Pasifika. They have been great partners. They can be with us as well.
āThereās lots to play out but I think Australian rugby fans should be pretty excited that weāve now got a couple of administrators [McLennan and RA chief executive Andy Marinos] who are standing up for us.ā
If Australia do this it will be back to past for them! Probably a 5% chance of beating NZ every 10 yrs. They have to remember NZ fostered them for 22 yrs, to have a decent team to play š¤Ŗ and remember 2003! The NZRU will never forgive that ( & the underarm )