The assessment that there will be no winners in the case of Melbourne Rebels v Rugby Australia was delivered bitterly in Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday.
During the live action, RA chief executive Phil Waugh looked as if he would rather be caught under the ruck being trampled by South African hotshot Bakkies Botha.
Waugh’s observations were sometimes surprising as he repeatedly rejected two statements: “I don’t remember”, and “I don’t remember at the moment”.
Events took a comical turn when Rebels lawyer Bernard Quinn, KC, inadvertently intruded. Kath and Kim mode, telling Waugh, “Look at me, please”, when he tried to give a clear answer.
Former Rebels directors are suing Rugby Australia, alleging the club was unfairly treated when it lost its license in 2024.
But no matter who wins this case – which resumes on Monday – the damage has already been done to Australian rugby, particularly Super Rugby.
In extraordinary evidence – much of it taken from RA board meeting minutes – the court heard that by mid-2023 there were doubts over the ownership of the Brumbies and Waratahs, who are now on the RA’s books.
This is the details of a WhatsApp message which emerged on Thursday in which Dan Herbert, then RA non-executive director and now chairman, told an anonymous recipient that the RA should “let them (Brumbies and Rebels) fall”, to which the recipient responded with a thumbs up emoji.
Waugh said he could not remember whether he was the recipient of the message from Herbert, but added that if he was, the thumbs-up emoji would indicate receipt of the message, rather than approval of its content.
Parochial Canberrans will have their own interpretation of the exchange.
But the fact that the Brumbies end was even entertained, at any rate, within the RA in 2023 shows the struggles of Super Rugby.
In fact, some of the ideas being floated between the RA and New Zealand Rugby in 2023, as revealed in court on Thursday, were desperate.
First, there was the idea that the Rebels could join the Moana Pasifika, hoping that the two lost vessels would be better off together. Second, NZ Rugby was considering sending Moana Pasifika to the west coast of the USA. Third, there was the idea that five new South African teams (excluding the Bulls, Stormers, Lions or Sharks) could join Super Rugby. And fourth, a second team could be established in Perth.
None of these ideas came to pass.
The optimistic view after Thursday’s court evidence is that the landscape of RA and Super Rugby has changed significantly since 2023.
That’s true to some extent, and this year is the first in an improved advertising deal with Stan and Nine Entertainment, the title’s owners.
But, of course, another change has been the “merging” of the Brumbies and Waratahs in the RA, which is now responsible for their losses.
One big question for Australian rugby remains: how much does the RA lose each year maintaining the Waratahs and Brumbies in Super Rugby, a competition highlighted on the court as a “product” that had declined before the Rebels collapsed?
Considering the suffering of the rebels, The death of Moana Pasifikaloss of $ NZ2 million ($ 1.65 million) caused by the Hurricanes last year (no New Zealand team received money) and what well-placed sources indicate, it is reasonable to assume that at the current trend, the annual losses of the Waratahs and Brumbies will chew up last year. An additional $70 million for the British and Irish Lions years before tourists came to Australia again.
RA has 100 million dollars for the World Cup is coming next year, but was very cautious when presenting the surplus brought in by the Lions tour, indicating that the wholesale model is still losing money.
The crowds in Sydney and Canberra are still underwhelming, at best, and this year’s Super Rugby finals look like they may only be played in New Zealand, which will further dampen interest in the tournament.
RA and NZ Rugby will need innovative ideas to elevate Super Rugby, which is currently a poorly owned property.
As for the Rebels’ case against the RA, it’s complicated in some areas – such as the Super Rugby clubs’ participation document and the RA’s funding obligations – but fundamentally, it’s still a classic trial of who knew what and when.
That’s for the courts to decide, but as for the rugby public in general, they now know a lot more about Super Rugby’s problems, and a lot of them are disturbing.
Paul Cully is a rugby columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect through X or email address.
