Laugh all you want, but rugby union has a lot t gain from studying rugby league.
As the RFU grapples with record losses and the fallout from the Bill Sweeney bonus scandal, the financial disparity with its rival code is striking.
One might question whether the law firm tasked with reviewing the Rugby Football Union’s contentious bonus payments will have time to examine the Rugby Football League’s latest annual report.
Some may argue that such a comparison is unfair, suggesting that rugby league’s peak in national prominence and financial stability was back in the 1990s and early 2000s.
However, one undeniable fact remains: rugby league has been a professional sport far longer than union and is arguably decades ahead in managing the financial challenges now catching up to rugby union.
While rugby union may have won the financial battle in the short and medium term, thanks to the economic strength of its international game compared to league, alarm is growing over its unsustainable spending habits.
Union’s administrators are now scrambling for financial lifelines, looking to regions like the United States or the Middle East for salvation, while a handful of radical investors envision a breakaway global league as the solution to its woes.
Brett Robinson, the newly elected chairman of World Rugby, used his first speech to address union’s financial troubles, citing Rugby Australia’s ongoing struggles with repeated financial crises as an example.
“There’s a major issue, and that’s the strain on our unions,” Robinson said. “The cost of players is putting immense pressure on our budgets, and we need to get serious about addressing it.”
Robinson may also question whether the sport can continue to bear the financial burden of its administrators.
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