Twiggy backs Aussies to go it alone in Super Rugby stoush

Rugby Australia has received the backing of its broadcaster and billionaire mining magnate Andrew ‘‘Twiggy’’ Forrest to go it alone in Super Rugby next year.

As New Zealand Rugby called an emergency meeting with under-fire All Blacks coach, Ian Foster, RA was boosted by comments from Stan Sport and Forrest, whose company Tattarang funds the Western Force, encouraging it to do what’s right for the game in Australia.

RA and NZR are renegotiating their agreement to play in Super Rugby together beyond next season, with Australia after a bigger share of the broadcast rights revenue. As it stands, Sky pays NZR $89 million and Nine, the owner of Stan, pays RA $33 million per year.

New Zealand authorities have so far taken a sceptical view of Australia’s posturing, but it appears RA chairman Hamish McLennan has been marshalling support, with RA’s broadcast partner and Forrest both lining up behind his position.

‘‘I always carry the oranges out for Australia so I completely support it,’’ Forrest said. ‘‘I had a very good experience with Global Rapid Rugby where we had other teams included when we looked north into Asia. We were

able to have rule changes, so that made the game faster and more entertaining and a lot less stop-start, with more time in play. So I’m not concerned that it doesn’t have a lot of options if it decided to go it alone.’’

Stan Sport boss Ben Kimber also backed Australia’s willingness to canvas a domestic competition with, for example, two teams from the nursery states NSW and Queensland.

The concept was met with dismay from large sections of the rugby fan base, with many seeing value in Australian clubs playing their New Zealand rivals in Super Rugby.

But Kimber said Stan Sport valued innovation and was prepared to look at anything RA thought merited attention.

Rugby has been a strong performer for Stan and its parent company Nine, which broadcast a Saturday night game live on free-to-air. The recent England test series was also a strong performer for Nine, with Saturday’s decider topping the night in the nonnews offerings.

‘‘We’ve shown over the last 18 months or so that we’ve got a fantastic, innovative partnership with Rugby Australia, and we’re constantly working with them to drive further growth for the game,’’ Kimber said.

‘‘So we’re happy to sit down and consider any strategic options Rugby Australia develop to continue the upward trend we’re already seeing in the game here. ’’