All Blacks coach to Aussies: 'This is not charity'
SPOTLIGHT: New Zealand Rugby is not in a charitable mood as they get ready to confirm their proposed model for a Trans-Tasman competition.
On Thursday, NZ Rugby is expected to reveal their findings from their review into a future competition model. It has been reported that NZ favours an eight-team competition with all five NZ Super Rugby franchises, a Pacific Islands team and only two teams from Australia.
The reason for the limited number of Australian teams is that NZ Rugby does not want to flood the competition with weak teams.
READ: Hansen: NZ Rugby owes Australia nothing
And now All Blacks coach Ian Foster has become the latest big name to support the idea of only two Australia teams after his comments on Wednesday.
“This is not a charity. We’ve got to actually make sure they’re feasible, they’re financially viable and the public are going to really get in behind them,” Foster told NewsHub.
“It’s got to be competitive; it’s got to be financially viable.
“We’ve seen in the past that if you let in teams that actually can’t survive, then you’ve got to keep changing the competition around.”
Reports on the proposed model did not sit well with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan, who described relations between the two countries as “master-servant” in nature.
However, Foster believes strength versus strength is the way forward to ensure a successful competition.
“We’ve got to do whatever we can to get competitive teams against our teams,” Foster said.
“We’re pretty secure in our five so once they [Australia] get their number, I guess we sit around and have a conversation.”
Source: Newshub, AAP & Stuff.
