SYDNEY :Rugby Australia chief Phil Waugh was disappointed the Wallabies lost the test series against the British & Irish Lions but believes the tour was a huge success and talk that the tourists might not return in 2037 was well wide of the mark.
Some media pundits had suggested after the Lions comfortably won the first test in Brisbane that Australian rugby was so weak the country no longer deserved its place on the touring rotation along with New Zealand and South Africa.
Waugh thought the competitiveness of the Wallabies in the second test in Melbourne, where they came within seconds of victory, and the third in Sydney, where they won 22-12, had firmly quashed any speculation about the Lions not returning.
“Australia is a really important home for the Lions tour every 12 years,” the RA chief executive told reporters at the conclusion of the series.
“On the field, I think the accumulative points, they got one point better than us and one try better than us, and it was a really fierce test battle.
“So I think any of that speculation, it was shut down by a number of people, including their CEO, who spoke at various events committing to return to Australia.”
Waugh thought the second test, which attracted a crowd of 90,307 to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was one of the best internationals he had seen in a while and said he had been impressed with the Wallabies throughout the series.
“I think it’s been an overwhelmingly successful tour, albeit would have been nice to win the … trophy, but that wasn’t to happen,” he added.
“I think that the progress that’s continued through the group, and I think the cultural growth of the group, has been really, really pleasing.”
Around 450,000 fans attended the nine matches and Waugh said the tour had exceeded expectations on financial returns for both RA and the Lions.
REDUCE DEBT
Exactly what the returns were was still being calculated, he said, but Australia’s proceeds would go to reducing the A$80 million ($51.78 million) credit facility RA took out in 2023, which cost more than A$9 million to service last year.
“It certainly exceeded expectations,” Waugh said. “I’ve always said that it’s a really good opportunity for us to reset the balance sheet.
“We’ve got the debt facility, and ideally we pay that down as quickly as possible, given the cost to carry it … then we’ll lean into the next broadcast cycle to get to a financially sustainable model.”
The Wallabies got great returns in the series from Will Skelton, the wrecking ball of a lock who was recalled from his French club to take on the Lions.
Tighthead prop Taniela Tupou, who played a key role in the third test victory, will also be moving to a French club this year, which would once have made him ineligible to play for the Wallabies.
That blanket ban was eased ahead of the 2015 World Cup under the ‘Giteau Law’, which allowed the Wallabies coach to select three overseas-based players under certain criteria.
RA’s Director of High Performance Peter Horne confirmed that all restrictions on test selection had been scrapped when Joe Schmidt took over as Wallabies coach last year.
“Joe’s got no impediment to select whoever he wants. That’s always been the case. The Giteau Law’s kind of redundant,” he said.
“But we’ve also made a choice that we select domestically if the players are of equal calibre, it’s important that we invest in our premier competition in Australia.”
($1 = 1.5451 Australian dollars)
