Is Australian rugby on the road to oblivion?

– Australia’s once-mighty rugby scene has reached a low ebb after a year of problems on the pitch and off it – and things look unlikely to improve this week when New Zealand come to town.

While there is perhaps never a good time to face the world-beating All Blacks, Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney does not come at an ideal moment for the Wallabies.

Michael Cheika’s (right) side come together at a time of civil war in Australian rugby, after a lamentable Super Rugby season was followed by the contentious axing of Perth’s Western Force.

The fall-out for the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is stark, with its chief executive Bill Pulver announcing his resignation and more changes likely to follow.

A legal battle also looks in prospect after the Force, who enjoy the heavyweight backing of mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, applied to appeal against their removal from Super Rugby.

Meanwhile Australian crowds and television ratings for the southern hemisphere competition have fallen over the precipice, with the once-popular code now wallowing behind rugby league, Aussie rules and football in this sports-mad nation.

The discontentment comes ahead of the impending showdown with the Wallabies’ trans-Tasman nemesis, the world champion All Blacks, this weekend.

The Wallabies have won just three of their last 29 Tests against the formidable New Zealanders, and often have been on the end of some on-field humiliations.

There was outrage over the Australian Rugby Union’s decision last week to cull the Western Force from next year’s Super Rugby competition, which prompted calls for the ARU board of directors to follow departing CEO Bill Pulver out of the door.

The national body earned widespread opprobrium when they made their long-awaited decision to discontinue the Force’s Super Rugby licence, moving from five teams to four as the sprawling competition slims down to 15 franchises in 2018.

The Rugby Union Players’ Association condemned the Force’s axing as “the darkest day in the history of Australian rugby”, while former Wallaby hooker Brendan Cannon called on the ARU board to resign in the wake of its “ill-conceived decision”. – AFP