Nick Cain: Aussies musn’t waste the Lions windfall

The importance of those supporters boosting interest in rugby union in Australia to the extent that record numbers of local fans also attended matches – including a 90,000 crowd for the second Test at the MCG in Melbourne – despite the 15-man code being at a low ebb before the Lions arrived, cannot be exaggerated.

It gave the game a lifeline in a country in which the aggressive media promotion of NRL rugby league and AFL Aussie rules usually dominates the sporting headlines.

Bang for their buck

However, as highlighted in this column at the time, Lions and local fans had good reason to feel short-changed because of Wallaby coach Joe Schmidt’s decision – backed by leading RA administrators – to devalue the tour by mothballing most of his international players until the Test series.

Schmidt’s refusal to release them to play for their domestic teams resulted in most of the six provincial matches leading into the series being the Lions windfall semi-competitive, with three blowout scores by the Lions, and a further three matches which, despite being closer on the scoreboard, they never looked in danger of losing.

When you are talking elite international sport, the fans deserved far more bang for their buck.

However, Schmidt and his RA allies got their comeuppance on the field.

Australia went into the first Test in Brisbane underprepared, and with too many of Schmidt’s squad lacking international match sharpness and cohesion, they were beaten 27-19 by a scratch Lions side that went on to deservedly clinch the series by winning the Melbourne cliffhanger 29-26, wrapping it up 2-0.

Even so, the Lions, whose tank was almost empty going into the third Test dead rubber in Sydney, were still a big enough attraction that there was a bumper 80,000 crowd to see the Wallabies salvage some pride with a hard-fought 22-12 win.

The Aussie media responded by trying to turn it into some sort of Pyrrhic victory, which was a misrepresentation of what unfolded on the field of play across the series – although in terms of a financial windfall, it was undeniably an epic win for Australia.

Historic

It was no surprise that despite defeat, RA’s chief executive, Phil Waugh, was cock-a-hoop.

The former Wallaby flanker said: “This is an historic and energising period for Australian rugby, and a record operating surplus allows us to look ahead to the future with clarity and confidence.”

Waugh’s immediate future agenda is the 2027 World Cup, with calculations being made about whether cross-code transfers from the NRL can turn the Wallabies into world-beaters who can win on home soil, where the 2003 team, that he was part of, could not deliver.

It has resulted in a Lions-financed spending spree, which Waugh, and Daniel Herbert, the RA chair and former World Cup-winning centre, hope will build the strike power to deliver the Webb Ellis trophy.

The NRL raid kicked off early with RA parting with £2.5m in 2024 to bring wing/ centre Joseph Suaalii (6ft 5ins, 15st 6lbs/98kg) back to rugby union on a three-year contract, joining Wallaby full-back Tom Wright who, early in his career, had a year in the NRL.

Within the last few months, three further NRL stars have been signed, all of them big, powerful backs.

Centre Angus Crichton (6ft 2ins, 16st/102kg) is on a two-year contract worth c. £800,000, wing Mark Nawaqanitawase (6ft 3ins, 15st 10lbs/100kg) is going to Japan on a two-year £1m contract, and most recently wing/centre Zac Lomax (6ft 3ins, 16st 7lbs/105kg) has joined Western Force on a joint RA contract worth around £750,000 over two years.

Gamble

However, it is a significant gamble that they will be able to make all the adjustments required to be match-winners in rugby union.

The signs when Lomax played for Western Force against a Waratahs side featuring Suaalii on Friday night were not especially auspicious, with neither player making a mark.

Another potential pitfall is that it could lead to significant wage inflation and tension in the Wallaby squad if the pay packets of the NRL imports are more lucrative than those given to current union internationals. This is something that

Wallaby coach-in-waiting Les Kiss, who will succeed Schmidt after the new Nations Cup summer Tests, will want to avoid it like the plague.

It is also notable that remuneration for RA’s senior administrators, including Waugh and Herbert, was reported as having increased to c. £650,000 from £530,000.

Circumspect

That is an overblown hike given that they can hardly claim to have been responsible for making the 2025 Lions tour into such a financial lifesaver.

The £60m income generation is due to the crowd-pulling capacity of the Lions, as they have proved consistently not only in Australia, but also in New Zealand and South Africa, since rugby union went professional.

A far more fiscally sound path by RA would involve being more circumspect about throwing big bucks at NRL cross-overs.

It means having a detailed plan beforehand on when, where, and how you are going to get the maximum out of them, rather than cherry-picking rugby league stars as your main rationale.

Another essential measure would be for RA to deposit a significant amount of the Lions money in a holding account to provide funds in leaner years, rather than splashing the cash as if there was no tomorrow.