John O'Neill
Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill says the negative financial consequences of taking part in the Rugby World Cup are a "serious" matter the International Rugby Board must tackle.
O'Neill on Friday also warned the tournament could not realistically be called a World Cup if one of the Sanzar nations - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - did not participate.
The Sanzar nations are unified in their stance against the IRB which needs to undergo a management review, he says.
"We hoped to get the World Cup out the way and in a quieter moment, sit down with the IRB and look at the timing of future World Cups, the distribution policy - how much funding the IRB distributes, particularly to the major unions, and finally the
commercial rules, about what you can and can't do during a World Cup," O'Neill said.
"Let's get away from the hurly-burly of the tournament, sit down and resolve those issues together and not be caught in the divide and conquer, north (northern hemisphere) versus south, which I think is the objective of some people."
O'Neill did not repeat his New Zealand counterpart Steve Tew's threat to boycott the 2015 World Cup in England should the financial arrangements in place by then not meet with his organisation's approval.
"Threatening to boycott a World Cup is not our style, but equally, the notion that any team is replaceable is nonsensical," O'Neill said, echoing the comment made by IRB chief executive Mike Miller who, when asked if a World Cup "needed" New Zealand,
replied: "Everyone is replaceable."
However, O'Neill said: "A World Cup without the All Blacks, Wallabies or Springboks, I'm not sure you'd be calling a World Cup.
But that's not a path we want to go down."
O'Neill said the ARU would lose $A16 million ($NZ20.23 million) from taking part in this World Cup, with the amount for the three Sanzar nations hitting $A38 million.
NZN