New Super Rugby deal on brink after secret meeting

A breakthrough in the Super Rugby wars is on the horizon after New Zealand Rugby’s top brass met with their Australian counterparts at the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship match in Adelaide.

Hours before the All Blacks suffered a humiliating loss to Argentina in Christchurch last Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald can reveal that the NZR chief executive and two board members were at the Rugby Australia chairman’s lounge at Adelaide Oval.

Sources close to both camps indicated the gathering was ‘‘positive’’ and ‘‘productive’’, with a new long-term deal for Super Rugby likely within a couple of weeks.

Crucially, New Zealand appears to have softened its stance towards Australia’s demand for an even split of broadcast revenue, signifying a victory for RA. New Zealand seemed likely to reject a 10-year deal, however, with the final agreement likely to be for a shorter period.

The gathering generated intrigue at the Adelaide venue. Although the Black Ferns played the Wallaroos in the first match, continuing their dominance of the luckless Australian women, it was unusual for NZR’s top powerbrokers to be in Australia while the All Blacks played at home.

Chief executive Mark Robinson was joined by non-executive directors Bart Campbell and Bailey Mackey, two figures described by insiders as progressive and ambitious figures in the New Zealand landscape.

Blues chairman Don McKinnon was also there, as were the chairs of two Australian clubs, Tony Crawford (Waratahs) and Matt Nobbs (Brumbies). RA and NZR did not respond to requests for comment.

A deal would be a major breakthrough after months of terse negotiations interspersed with long periods of silence and fiery public comment. RA drew the ire of its counterpart across the ditch with public threats in June to tear up 25 years of partnership if its request – for a redrawing of the boundaries on equal financial terms – wasn’t met.

The current broadcast deal doesn’t expire until the end of next year, with a two-year extension on the table, so it surprised NZR and many Australian Super Rugby clubs when McLennan spat the dummy at that juncture, threatening through the media to launch a domestic competition in 2024.

From RA’s perspective, the move was less offensive than New Zealand’s failed, secret plan to own and launch an eight-team Pacific competition, relegating Australia to bit players with just two teams, in 2020.

If the Adelaide confab was a success and a deal is done on the basis of a 50-50 split of broadcast revenue, it likely means RA convinced NZR that its next deal would be substantially fatter than the current $33 million per year arrangement with Stan and Nine, publishers of this masthead. Sky Sport pays NZR closer to $100m.

That principle will not be tested until next year at the earliest, with Nine in possession of a two-year option to extend until the end of 2025.

Robinson will have secured his own wins to convince the NZR board to do the deal, with the unspoken acknowledgement it has no other credible option.