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Cape Town - The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) have been ordered to bring forward full documentation and potentially sensitive e-mail trails for a state inquiry into their decision to axe the Western Force from Super Rugby.
Western Australian Senator Linda Reynolds' had motioned for an inquiry into the matter which was carried on Wednesday after she also began criticising the ARU’s decision-making processes, particularly their lack of transparency when removing the Force fromSuper Rugby.
Sydney - The ARU fired back on Tuesday night. They claim they would have been broke by late 2019 a and potentially in debt of AUS$26 million by the end of 2020 if five Super Rugby clubs had been retained.
One document that has been revealed explains why the ARU axed the Force instead of the Melbourne Rebels.
It states they would make an $18 million saving which the ARU had been unable to do since April because of court action taken by RugbyWA.
The ARU’s actions in the Force case will be examined by the Community Affairs References Committee and a report is expected by November 13.
Senator Reynolds named this situation a “Senate Inquiry into the Future of Rugby Union in Australia”. She hopes the report will reveal all the necessary facts after RugbyWA lost its appeal to keep the Force alive in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on Tuesday.
“The Force is so much more than a sports team,” Senator Reynolds told the Herald Sun.
“It’s a community and the devastation that community faces ...(means) Western Australians need transparency and they need to understand the process and reason behind it as captain Matt Hodgson said.”
