The Australian Rugby Union lifted its moratorium on Super Rugby player contracts and promised to honor "all deals," including for those who sign with a team that is "subsequently axed," according to Kemp & Rugari of the AAP. It comes as ARU Chair Cameron Clyne "did not rule out the possibility that all five Australian Super Rugby teams may remain next season," amid legal threats associated with plans to cut either the Melbourne Rebels or Western Force. Clyne admitted that "every roadblock" possible had been erected to "stop the governing body getting its way in the protracted saga." And even with a date "finally set" for an ARU extraordinary general meeting next month, Clyne "conceded to having no real idea of when it would all end." The ARU on Monday locked in the EGM called by the Victorian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players' Association, which are both "seeking answers on how the ARU intends to proceed with its declared intent to cut a team." It will be held on June 20 in Sydney (AAP, 5/29). RUGBY.com.au's Beth Newman reported RUPA CEO Ross Xenos said that while it was not a "perfect solution, with no more certainty on which teams would be in Super Rugby" in '18, it was a "step forward." Xenos: "We don't believe that lifting the moratorium is a panacea that will take away all the anxiety that players are facing in the current climate." He could not "put a figure on the players who may have opted to take up European deals without being able to sign off on a Super Rugby deal," but said that he hoped it was "no bigger than the normal attrition" (RUGBY.com.au, 5/29).
COACHING THINK TANK: REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported Australia will set up a national coaching panel to "oversee coaching development and education" in a bid to strengthen the grassroots. Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika said, "I want the guy who is coaching our under-6's to feel like he's part of an Australian coaching fraternity that has certain fundamentals. ... They're looking after the biggest asset we have, which is our players." Pundits "have complained the game is suffering for a lack of resources" at the grassroots level and "bemoaned the standard of the current crop of Super Rugby coaches." Cheika said that he "hoped to have a program ready to run within 100 days" (REUTERS, 5/26).
