Australia to pull out of Six Nations

Australian rugby has slipped into further disarray with the likelihood that Australia A will pull out of the much-vaunted Pacific Six Nations tournament this year, meaning it is in danger of becoming the Pacific Five Nations tournament.

Set up by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as a means of helping to bridge the gap between South Pacific nations and the Southern Hemisphere rugby powers of New Zealand and Australia, the Six Nations was to have involved Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, the Junior All Blacks, Japan and Australia A. But Australia are now reneging.

Australia originally proposed a provincial competition to be called the Super 8. It consisted of the four Australian Super 14 franchises, Japan, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) applied for funding from the IRB for this competition - and looked like getting it until the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) intervened, pointing out that the IRB did not fund New Zealand's NPC so why were the Australians getting IRB funding?

In the end, the IRB stitched together the Pacific Six Nations and all but Australia have committed to the $12 million tournament, set to kick off in June.

One response was to ask Argentina to fill the gap but IRB sources said they have existing international commitments during that period and that the IRB is now preparing for a five-nation tournament.

Many will see the irony in Australia - which backed Japan in the recent 2011 World Cup hosting battle on the grounds that it was good for global rugby - undermining a competition meant to enhance the health of rugby nations in its own backyard.

However, Australian rugby - still coach-less; with a new chairman following the resignation of Dilip Kumar; still under fire from the NZRU regarding its support of Japan; and in some disarray with little or no infrastructure to support the mending of its front-row woes - is also struggling to create its own Australian Provincial Championship (APC).

This 'third tier' competition has long been heralded as giving Australian rugby the bedrock it needs, providing a base of quality rugby between club and Super 14 and international rugby. It is also due to kick off this year.

But the APC has threatened Australia's involvement in the Six Nations - which requires a three-year commitment to the IRB by the ARU. "The ARU will not commit because they want the flexibility to develop their provincial competition without being hamstrung by the IRB," said an Australian rugby source.

If Australia was to join the Six Nations, the APC would have to be played later in the year, probably September-October. That would bring the ARU into confrontation with Australian players whose representatives have baulked at an extended and more complicated season.

"Under this scenario, players would be expected to play in Super 14 matches, trials, APC matches, Six Nations matches and maybe other matches leading up to the APC," said Australian Rugby Players Association operations manager Ben Rolleston.

"What happens now, at the end of the Super 14, is players go home and play club matches and prepare for internationals. There might be a lot of players at the Western Force or the Brumbies, for example, who actually live in Sydney. Well, this scenario would require them to stay in Perth or Canberra for the APC or to move back there for the APC.

"That plainly raises financial issues, the question of time apart from family and friends, career issues, accommodation and a lot more besides," he said.

As Australian rugby is yet to tackle such issues they may decide not to compete in the Six Nations until they are resolved. Hovering in the background to all this is Japan.

In Australia's original Super 8 proposals, Japan was included not just as a gesture "for the global good of the game". It was also mooted that Japan might also help fund the Australian provincial game, perhaps not in 2006 but in 2007. The cynical will be quick to note the link between possible Japanese funding and voting in the 2011 World Cup battle.

Whatever the truth of that, Japan appears to be having "five bob each way" at present. They can commit to the Six Nations, assess the worth of the competition in helping Japanese rugby, then decide whether to continue or to look at entering the APC.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY