Revenue sharing a possibility

face of the Covid-19 pandemic. But even now national and international unions are contemplating the very real prospect of competitions not getting up and running again until the back half of the year, at best.

Super Rugby already looks doomed, with the time-frame unfavourable in terms of completing the competition before the international season. New Zealand is in lockdown for the next month, at the very least, and it could drag on for much longer than that initial term.

Then there is Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina to consider.

There is also a very real prospect that the scheduled July tests, when northern hemisphere nations traditionally visit the south, could be cancelled.

Much will depend on how long the lockdowns last but there will be a lag between life eventually returning to normal and professional sportsmen getting themselves fit enough to resume a contact sport such as rugby.

If July – when the All Blacks are due to host Wales in two tests and Scotland in one – gets canned, then the ‘‘autumn’’ tests in the north in November become potential hotspots.

At present the All Blacks are scheduled to play England at Twickenham on November 7, Wales in Cardiff on November 14 and Scotland in Edinburgh on November 21. All three are guaranteed to be full houses and would provide much-needed revenue injections for the northern unions.

But – and here’s the crux of the matter – if the July tests are cancelled, then the financial arrangements for November are going to have to be reviewed.

Test rugby operates under a World Rugby-mandated quidpro-quo arrangement that southern unions have long complained unfairly favours their northern counterparts with their vaster stadiums, larger, more deep-pocketed, populations and ability to generate far higher gate-takings.

But if July was taken off the table, a negotiating process would likely to have to play out over revenue from the

November tests. The touring nations from the south would have to insist on an equitable cut, and that’s where things could get challenging.

But Robinson, and his counterparts in Australia and South Africa, will have to play hardball. They must insist on something close to a 50-50 return on profits which will not be easy to get over the line.

The All Blacks, especially, are massive crowd-pullers and revenue-generators in the north. Under a potential one-off revenue-sharing arrangement, New Zealand Rugby would be under pressure to stand firm on its need for a fair slice of the revenue pie.

Then there is the now customary fourth end-of-year test to consider. NZ Rugby traditionally tags on another international to its touring schedule from which it is able to generate a revenue-sharing arrangement because it falls outside the official window.

Given the All Blacks are already scheduled to meet England, Wales and Scotland, the temptation to add a test against Ireland and make it a Grand Slam tour must be considerable.

Rugby will need strong, positive storylines in the wake of the wreckage of the coronavirus. An All Blacks Grand Slam tour would fit that bill splendidly.