Forget the romance. Rugby Australia and NZ Rugby are locked in a marriage of necessity

The romantic view of the recent rapprochement between Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby is that it reinforced old fraternal bonds that cannot be broken – a sign of the enduring respect and affection between the parties.

The cynical view is that their shared challenges have brought them back together: their huge financial issues and the presence of the NRL, a cashed-up and aggressive rival .

A confidential NZ Rugby document I obtained earlier this week painted the governing body’s issues in stark terms.

A forecast loss of $NZ27 million ($21.75 million) this year. A structural deficit of $NZ20 million a year, with no end in sight without change.

A projected loss of $NZ66 million in 2027-2031, despite a British and Irish Lions tour windfall in 2029.

Also, the document reveals: “The NRL now draws 28 million NZ viewing hours against Super Rugby’s 19 million and NPC’s [National Provincial Championship] 14 million.”

That last line means rugby competitions in New Zealand are still more watched than the NRL despite Warriors-mania (and the viewing figures exclude All Blacks Tests), but you get the point: rugby league is a big thing across the ditch.

These figures would be all too familiar to Australian rugby fans, and gallows humourists might conclude that Australia was always 10 years ahead of New Zealand.

What this all means for Australia is unclear. Powerbrokers from across the New Zealand rugby system will descend on Wellington next week to discuss their options, but identifying the issue is the easy part – finding agreement on a solution is far harder.

However, there is a half-glass-full world in which the urgency of the Kiwis’ problems works in Australia’s favour.

Certainly, there doesn’t seem to be any appetite from NZ Rugby to bin Super Rugby Pacific and return to a domestic competition, the NPC, as their elite competition model.

The NZ Rugby document states that the preferred men’s elite competition “retains Trans-Tasman, with design able to expand”.

So, for example, if you are a private investor keen to put money into the NSW Waratahs, there is certainty that the Tahs will have a competition to play in.

And, for example, if you are the Queensland Rugby Union and contemplating a split between the professional game and the community game with a view to investing into the Reds in a private Super Rugby model, that possibility still exists.