Put on the spot, I’ve always been more of a rugby league guy.
Having said that, growing up in Brisbane and attending a GPS school I certainly know my way around rugby union and I always try to catch the Wallabies matches, home and away.
Which is why it was disappointing to discover that, yet again, this morning’s Ireland clash in Dublin was entirely absent from our free-to-air screens, despite kick-off being at a friendly Sunday morning time slot across much of Australia.
In fact, of the five Wallabies matches being played on the current end-of-season tour to Japan and Europe not one is being broadcast live on free-to-air television.
It must be stressed that Rugby Australia and rights holders Nine Entertainment are well within their rights to do what they’re doing as none of these internationals appear on the Federal Government’s anti-siphoning list.
But it still feels like a sizeable wasted opportunity for the 15-man game, especially at a time when Rugby Australia is clearly seeking to leverage the commercial success of this year’s Lions Tour with an eye to the near horizon and a home World Cup in 2027.
Yes, the fact that the Wallabies were soundly beaten in the end by Ireland this morning, 46-19, perhaps softens the frustration somewhat. Maybe it’s a good thing more of us weren’t able to watch?
But why do the sport’s power brokers make it so hard for fans to support the national team the second it leaves these shores?
You can’t be what you can’t see—nor can you support an ‘invisible’ sport buried away in an obscure corner of an already-fragmented sports streaming landscape.
Sure die-hard rugby followers will pay up for STAN Sport, but that’s not where the real volume comes from—something rugby league learned long ago with all of its biggest games kept fiercely free-to-air, including the recent three-match Ashes series between Australia and England.
Ironically, the broadcaster is the same, Nine Entertainment.
If the Wallabies lose but no-one sees, did it even really happen?
More to the point, do the majority of Australian sports fans even care anymore?