Murdoch could dump muddled Boks

The story is told that shortly after Rupert Murdoch witnessed Jonah Lomu doing his impression of Superman by, amongst other things, running over Mike Catt in the 1995 World Cup quarter-final at Newlands he told his lieutenants: “Get me that man!”

Murdoch, of course, as head of the Newscorp media conglomerate is as near to a master of the rugby universe as you’ll ever get and the realisation of his instruction to own Lomu led to the eradication of the last vestiges of amateurism in rugby.

With Lomu as the catalyst it was Newscorp’s money that brought into being tournaments such as the Tri-Nations and the Super 12 when during the 1995 World Cup it was announced that a $550-million deal had been struck giving Murdoch’s company sole rights to broadcast rugby in the three major southern hemisphere nations.

This massive injection of funds led to the formation of Sanzar and Murdoch’s dollars kept the three unions, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, in the black – particularly Sarfu thanks to a most favourable Rand/Dollar exchange rate.

The deal became effective in 1996 with the playing of the first Super 12 and Tri-Nations tournaments and will expire next year.

Initial talks are underway to negotiate a renewal and with Murdoch and his men taken a hard-nosed stand and signaling their intent to pay a lot less for the television rights South African rugby players may, unbeknown to them and seemingly unrecognised by local administrators, this year be playing for the future of Springbok rugby.

There is every chance that Murdoch may turn round and say: “Get me England!”

Murdoch and his deal-makers do not, and need not, have any sentiment when it comes to rugby. Their aim is to have a desirable and saleable “product” to show on their pay-TV screens and there is no reason why they should not be attracted to the new world champions.

Not only are England undeniably the top side in the world but they have the greatest following. Many millions of people wishing to watch their heroes and willing to pay for the privilege is the fundamental rule of pay-TV and Murdoch may well wish to include them – at the expense of South Africa.

When the original Sanzar deal was done, by a tough and extremely competent negotiator in Dr Louis Luyt, South African had much in its favour. The Springboks were the World Champions and possessed many world-class players while Natal and Transvaal had competed in all three Super 10 Finals.

Compare that to the situation 10 years on. The Boks have won the Tri-Nations just once, have never taken the Super 12, dropped out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals and are currently rated 6th in the world.

We are certainly not holding a strong hand, so what’s to stop a man such as Murdoch, or whoever he instructs to negotiate with Sanzar, taking a long hard look at South Africa and coming to a negative conclusion.

It is no secret that Newscorp executives as well as rugby administrators in Australia and New Zealand have taken a jaundiced view of the quota system and the fact that South Africa might not be picking it’s best teams – a requirement of the contract – as well as its continued poor performance.

Given the current internecine problems in the game South Africa does not represent an attractive option and another poor year could well be all it takes for Newscorp to demand England’s inclusion in the Tri-Nations to engineer a significantly larger television audience.

And, if this scenario were to arise South Africa would not be able to rely on the support of the other members of the Sanzar acronym. For them it will be about survival and the maintenance of their main source of income while, with the Australian World Cup experience still fresh in mind. they will also view with some enthusiasm the expendable pounds of the traveling Barmy Army.