Australian Rugby Union Could See Revolt Following Buildcorp's Withdrawal

The "withdrawal of a key Australian Rugby Union sponsorship may be the trigger for a palace revolt at the code's troubled headquarters," with a possible outcome that an Australian football code will have a female leader for the first time, according to Roy Masters of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The decision by construction firm Buildcorp to cancel a million-dollar naming rights sponsorship of the code's key pathways competition, the National Rugby Championship, will "destabilise the leadership" of CEO Bill Pulver and Chair Cameron Clyne, who are "already under siege for the painful delay" in announcing which Super Rugby team will be cut from the SANZAAR competition. Buildcorp co-Chair Josephine Sukkar is also a member of the "powerful" ARU board nomination committee. The ARU has three female directors -- Ann Sherry, Elizabeth Broderick and Pip Marlow. Sherry, the exec director of cruise line company Carnival, is "seen as a future chair of the ARU and could take the reins" at St. Leonards (SMH, 6/9).