(Reuters) – Rugby Australia (RA) will take over the ACT Brumbies’ high performance and commercial operations as part of its reform push to improve the game’s finances and bolster the Wallabies’ competitiveness.
The ACT & Southern New South Wales Rugby Union (ACT&SNSWRU) had agreed to transfer operational control of the Canberra-based Brumbies with the aim of delivering improved results both on and off the field, the governing bodies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The ACT&SNSWRU is the second provincial union to sign up to RA’s “strategic reset”, with the Sydney-based New South Wales Waratahs and NSW Rugby Union agreeing to relinquish control of their professional operations last November.
RA said the Brumbies’ integration would mean the Super Rugby team will remain based in the nation’s capital along with its elite women’s side.
The ACT&SNSWRU will retain responsibility and accountability for developing the community game in the Australian Capital Territory and southern New South Wales state.
The move comes weeks after the Melbourne Rebels were cut from Super Rugby, having owed more than A$20 million ($13.48 million) to creditors.
Australia’s remaining Super Rugby clubs, the Queensland Reds and Perth-based Western Force, have yet to commit to RA’s integration push.
RA is battling to shore up the game’s finances and rebuild Australia’s competitiveness in global rugby after the Wallabies were eliminated from the group stage of a World Cup for the first time last year in France.
($1 = 1.4832 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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