0
Super Rugby 2016: ARU CEO Bill Pulver flags move towards centralisation of teams
Georgina Robinson July 14 2016 - 5:59PM
Australian rugby boss Bill Pulver says it is time for greater collaboration between the provinces and head office after a weekend of horrors for Australian Super Rugby sides.
Australian teams have three wins and one draw from 24 games against their New Zealand opponents this season and the penultimate regular round produced some ugly scorelines: the Crusaders put 85 points on the Rebels, the Blues put 40 on the Brumbies, the Chiefs trounced the Reds 50-5, the 2014 champions NSW went down 28-17 to the Hurricanes and the Force lost 22-3 to the Stormers.
Pulver said he was disappointed by the weekend's results and said the ARU and provinces needed to work closer together.
"It wasn't a great weekend. It happens," Pulver said. "I've got to give credit to New Zealand, their teams are frighteningly good and they're setting the bar in a way that we need to match it. To me it puts further focus on our high-performance environment and I think in Australia that's an area where there are relatively scarce resources that need to be used cleverly in a collaborative environment."
His comments pave the way for a push to make major changes to the way the professional game operates in Australia, including the centralisation of high-performance programs and staffing, and potentially the central contracting of coaches and other support staff.
A strategy group comprising the chief executives of all five provinces and ARU representatives meets regularly to discuss a number of issues, while the ARU's formal alliance with the Force is a blueprint for future interaction between St Leonards and the provinces.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/au...14-gq5sod.html
Normally wouldn't give a Georgie Robinson article the time of day but there is some interesting reading about the broken business model that is super rugby at the moment, especially in Australia. She even credits the Force for starting the ball rolling.