MELBOURNE, March 27 (Reuters) – Budget cuts being weighed for cash-strapped Australian Super Rugby clubs would mean “all bets are off” for the fragile labour accord struck with administrators, the players union has warned.
Australian Rugby Union chief Bill Pulver told local media this week he was considering axing the A$250,000 ($231,400)allocated to each of the country’s five Super Rugby teams to fund five rookie players in their squads.
The ARU has already taken the knife to test match payments, with Australia’s top players accepting a 23 percent cut in their fees from A$13,100 per game to A$10,000 over the next four years in a deal announced in October.
However, a cut to the Super Rugby clubs’ Extended Player Squad (EPS) funding would be in breach of the players’ Collective Bargaining Agreement, Rugby Union Players’ Association boss Greg Harris told The Australian.
“There is a real problem here because they actually signed off on the CBA that said they’d have those (EPS) players,” Harris said in comments published on Friday.
“If they don’t want to honour their component of it, then all bets are off.
“Basically it means the CBA is out the door. It could break down.”
Harris also said Pulver needed to consult players before talking to the media about labour issues.
“If you want to renegotiate, come back and renegotiate it,” Harris said. “That’s fine but don’t make policy statements in the media.”
Pulver, who succeeded John O’Neill last year, has repeatedly lamented the dire state of the game’s finances in Australia, and has engaged in a raft of cost-cutting measures in a bid to put them back in the black.
Though the national Wallabies team has consistently ranked among the world’s top three, rugby union ranks well behind rival codes, Australian Rules football and rugby league, in terms of fans, broadcast minutes and revenues.
($1 = 1.0802 Australian Dollars) (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Greg Stutcbury)
Rugby-Players warn Australian rugby chiefs against further cuts
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