Force take rugby bosses to task
Western Force bosses believe they are being ignored by the Australian Rugby Union and claim the governing body is failing to create a genuinely national sport.
The Super Rugby club board has called for a national agenda to be set in concrete and demanded the ARU become more active outside the union heartland of Queensland and New South Wales.
They are angry to have been left out of talks over setting up Super Rugby academies only in Sydney and Brisbane and excluded from an early-season tournament that included sides from the Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies who took on teams from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Russel Perry, chairman of RugbyWA, the Force umbrella body, said the ARU had to address issues nationally if it wanted to compete successfully with New Zealand and South Africa.
"There is no evidence of a national agenda. In fact the ARU seem to be going in the opposite direction," Perry said. "If we want to compete with New Zealand and South Africa, both of whom have genuine national games, we have to address issues across the country.
"We have a truly national game now with five Super Rugby franchises spread across the country of which WA is a key player. There needs to be a legitimate and well-planned agenda set in concrete to grow the game nationally.
"We want the ARU to review the academy decision and make sure that if there are any future competitions then we would get a go at them.
"We are in a commercially competitive environment with the NRL and the AFL and the ARU needs to be seen to be competing outside the major rugby States.
"Recent ARU decisions to centralise Super Rugby academies and exclude the Western Force from a Pacific Nations competition are of great concern. Those decisions were presented as a fait accompli. They highlight our concern about lack of a national agenda."
In a push to increase its voice at the ARU, RugbyWA has taken the unusual step of appointing businessman David Vaux as a Sydney-based director.
·Western Force scrum-half Mark Swanepoel will play for the Canterbury province in the New Zealand national provincial tournament during the Force post-season.
