Australia's five Super Rugby sides are set to enter a row with the country's governing body after a possible future tug-of-war over Test players emerged.
International players are expected to be taken out of commitments for their franchises in order to join the Wallabies a full three weeks before the first match against the British and Irish Lions, which is scheduled for June 22 in Brisbane.
"Clearly (Australia coach) Robbie Deans is going to get all the support he needs in terms of getting that group together, ideally three weeks ahead of that first game," confirmed ARU chief Bill Pulver.
"I've got to get back and speak with the various Super Rugby franchises over the next couple of days but we'll be getting an announcement out imminently.
"I'm not sure that we'll get a consensus view - clearly they want to have their players available for every Super Rugby game.
"But my priority is that Robbie has the right preparation in order to make sure we beat the Lions."
An intelligent question was then posed to chief Pulver over whether a franchise fairing strongly in the competition would be allowed to receive special treatment for players.
"That's something that we would review at the time," he explained.
"It's really difficult to predict what the situation is going to be in Super Rugby at that stage so we will assess those on their merits at the time."
Comments
rugby_rockstar says...
Surprised by you ABlack, I was in the Christchurch fanzone watching Ireland stuff Australia in the rugby world cup and the Kiwis were all supporting Ireland and giving the Aussies in the crowd a load of banter.
In an attempt to sway you to support the Lions, I just want to say I thoroughly enjoyed supporting NZ against Oz in the RWC Semi-final, which I watched in the Red Rock Bar in Queenstown wearing a "There's No Crying In Rugby ...Unless You're Australian" tee shirt and enjoying the local Monteifs brew. :D
Posted 16:30 27th February 2013
Barkerda says...
Players like genia and horwill will be begging for game time and even a 40 minute hit out against the lions for qld will be enormously beneficial for individual and country...I understand why we can't let everyone else play but these 2 need to be playing their best rugby for the wallabies to have a good chance against the lions.....40 minutes wouldn't be asking too much...
Posted 07:22 26th February 2013
oldschool says...
Well, the scheduling gurus have seen to it that the Wallabies will play no games together as a group prior to the first Lions test (as opposed to the many many practice games the Lions will have). So, releasing the players is the least that should happen to give the team some time to get combinations going, etc. A win against the Lions will do much more for Aus rugby, in terms of national profile and interest in the game, than will any of the provinces faring well in the S15. The ARU executive needs to take a strong lead here, and hopefully the provinces can see above the short term "bottom line" view and recognise that more national interest in the game will only benefit them as well.
Posted 01:45 26th February 2013
ABlack says...
Please Australia beat the Lions, we couldnt stand the UK media histeria if they beat you! we are rooting for you Aussie.
Posted 20:24 25th February 2013
Startledwombat says...
Of course the strongest players will be taken offline.
It's a Test series.
Posted 11:10 25th February 2013