Australia will discuss the possibility of compensation with South African officials over the selection of a second-string side for next week’s Tri-Nations Test in Sydney, reports said on Friday.
Newly reinstalled chief executive John O’Neill reportedly said the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) will quantify the financial damage caused by South Africa’s decision to rest top players ahead of this year’s World Cup.
”If this was a normal commercial transaction and one party has arguably not met their part of the bargain and it has cost the other party money, you’d be looking at some claim for damages,” O’Neill told Friday’s Australian newspaper.
”The response to that is: that’s not the rugby way. And I accept that, but I think that the quantification of the financial damage and the damage to the ARU’s reputation has to be spelt out.”
O’Neill said he did not rule out the possibility of legal action against the South African Rugby Union. ”What if our broadcasters and sponsors claim on us and they say, ‘You didn’t deliver on what you promised to deliver.’ Well, then, you have to have recourse to someone.”
Rugby officials are reportedly seething over the dismissive way South Africa has responded to complaints their move could cost the ARU at least Aus$1-million in lost ticket sales for the July 7 Test in Sydney.
O’Neill acknowledged that by playing the ”player welfare” card, the South Africans had shrewdly boxed Australia in.
”It’s such a hard one to punch, player welfare,” O’Neill said. ”They’re challenging us to challenge their medical opinion. They’re literally saying to us, ‘How can you tell us what the physical state of our players is?”’
The report said Australian officials feel betrayed that South Africa would play full-strength Wallabies and All Black teams over the past two weeks in sell-out Tests in Cape Town and Durban and then not reciprocate. ”I would have expected more from South Africa in terms of the value of the relationship,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill, in his second spell in charge of the ARU, claimed more countries were undermining the status of Tests by fielding sub-standard teams in World Cup years, particularly northern-hemisphere sides venturing south.
”At the moment we’ve got a lot of dysfunctionality that is not in rugby’s interests. If the in-bounds [Test touring teams] aren’t working, maybe you’ve got to consider an expanded Super rugby competition running into June and July,” O’Neill said.
England, France and Wales have all sent weakened teams to the southern hemisphere in recent weeks. — Sapa-AFP