AUSTRALIA’S national football team has never made it to Wembley but the country’s rugby team will play there in December.
And ironically, arrangements for the Wallabies’ match at the spiritual home of English football are being negotiated by former Football Federation Australia chief executive John O’Neill, now back at the helm of Australian rugby.
O’Neill revealed that British 2012 Olympic officials had requested the Wallabies extend their November campaign by an extra week to allow them to schedule a match against England at Wembley on December 6 to commemorate the centenary of Australia’s gold medal win in rugby at the original London Olympics in 1908.
That left the Australian team with a free weekend at the end of November, but not for long. Wales immediately stepped into the breach to secure an unscheduled Test against the Wallabies at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on November 29.
With arrangements all but finalised for Australia to play New Zealand in Hong Kong at the start of the trip, the end-of year tour, normally short and sharp with no more than four Tests scheduled, is now shaping up as a full-scale expedition.
Not only will it feature five Tests – New Zealand, Italy, France, England and Wales – but also the Wembley extravaganza and almost certainly a number of midweek games.
"It would make sense to take a slightly expanded touring squad and play midweek games, particularly when we have so many talented young players coming through," O’Neill said.
Somehow it seems wasteful that the Wallabies will play four Tests in the northern hemisphere but not the four that would enable them to take a shot at emulating the grand slam feat of Andrew Slack’s 1984 Australians who defeated, in turn, England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
But while it is too late to organise a slam attempt – which the All Blacks will be taking aim at on their northern hemisphere tour in November – O’Neill indicated future itineraries would open up the possibility.
"That’s something we should pursue," O’Neill said.
But as keen as he is to revive one of the great traditions of Australian rugby, O’Neill also is intent on exploring new opportunities and new markets.
The Hong Kong Test, which he acknowledged was an initiative of the previous regime headed by Gary Flowers, had the possibility of becoming "semi-regular". And that might just be the opening salvo of the ARU’s push into Asia, O’Neill suggesting a Tokyo Test was being considered.
Although circumstances have conspired to provide the Wallabies with the sort of tour itinerary they last filled in the days when they travelled by ship, the extended campaign will be invaluable to new coach Robbie Deans.
Because of his commitment to the Crusaders’ Super 14 campaign, Deans will arrive in Australia to take control of the Wallabies at virtually the same time as the touring teams from Ireland and France.
With Australia then going straight into the Tri-Nations series, the November tour will be Deans’ first real opportunity to work some of his younger players into the Test side.
The extended tour will also fit neatly into O’Neill’s plan to get more rugby out of his contracted players.
"They’re paid very well but compared to professional players elsewhere, they are under-utilised," he said.
Certainly the more militant Wallabies have moved on or have retired, so there should be no complaints from within the playing ranks about a heavier workload. Although if a Wallaby played in every Test after having gone all the way through to the Super 14 final, he still would only just be knocking on the door of the 30-match limit.
Indications are that nothing will be organised this season to fill the void caused by the ARU’s decision to scrap the Australian Rugby Championship.
There had been speculation that a national club competition would take the place of the ARC or, at very least, an interim competition involving the four professional Australian teams.
But O’Neill indicated that not only was a new ARC-style competition not planned for this year, it was not even on the drawing board for the future.
"What’s going to replace it? I don’t have that answer and I have to say it’s not a priority," O’Neill said.
"The priorities at the moment are at a higher level – the Wallabies and Super rugby. They are not working."
Source: Wallabies walk up Wembley way
