Peter Williams: Rugby struggling to win over hearts and minds in Australia

Peter WIlliams. Photo / Supplied

Strewth, mate, have they got a few problems in Australian rugby. Not only were the Wallabies thumped in the Tri Nations matches but apparently the game's brand health is declining too, not to mention real worries over its salience and brand equity.

Thankfully, that is just market research jargon, about as easy to understand as penalties at the breakdown. In simple terms, it means there are less people watching and playing rugby than three years ago; the game is hard to follow; and even passionate supporters are struggling to stay enthused. Could it be any more serious?

It's no surprise that rugby has a major battle for popularity and credibility in Australia. Spend any time there in the winter months and the 15-a-side game is seldom in the public or media spotlight. It's always been a game associated with private schools and universities. Its players, even in the professional era, have usually been far more erudite than their counterparts on this side of the Tasman or NRL players. Many of them go on to successful careers in the high rises of Castlereagh Street.

But in a land where tribal passions run deep, being a Collingwood or Manly supporter is far easier and exciting than backing the, ahem, Reds or the Force.

Rugby union in Australia has never claimed the heart of the working man but has always done a good job plugging into the enthusiasm of the general sports fan as a second favourite after rugby league or AFL.

Winning a couple of World Cups and two Tri Nations in the space of 10 years kept things bubbling along nicely without ever threatening the entrenched positions of rugby league and Aussie Rules.

Now it seems rugby's appeal to their non-core audience is diminishing big time and those who've loved the game regardless are struggling too.

But is anything going to be solved by putting an extra Super Rugby team into Australia?

If a sport is battling to get people through the gate - witness a 37 per cent drop in test match attendance since 2006 and a 34 per cent drop in Super Rugby crowds in the same time - is anything really going to be solved by flooding the market with more product?

Wouldn't it be better to try and improve the quality of what they're already providing?

It would help if Australian teams had more success. Therein lies the heart of the code's issues in that country.

In 14 years of Super Rugby, only 13 of 56 semifinalists have been Australian. New Zealand's provided 28 and South Africa 15. In the past four seasons of Super 14, there have been just two Australian semifinalists.

The Wallabies have won only two Tri Nations championships but the most recent was in 2001. More worryingly, they were last by quite a long way this year.

If that sort of pattern is maintained, then rugby's long-term prognosis in Australia is grim. Their trump cards are Robbie Deans and John O'Neill. But one of the world's most successful rugby coaches has the greatest challenge of his life during the five-test tour of Japan and the British Isles starting in two weeks.

Getting himself a new captain for the trip shows he's not playing favourites and he won't put up with substandard performances. He could probably get away with a loss to the All Blacks in Tokyo but he needs to win a Grand Slam to restore some status to his team.

For O'Neill, the administrator previously with the Midas touch, the latest research could hardly be more depressing. He is a man of great ambition, used to success. But if rugby union is to be a seriously major player in Australian sport, then Super 14 and international results consistently have to be better.