‘Away from the roots’: Joe Schmidt warns the rebel R360 tournament could move rugby on from traditional strengths

With players being offered eye-watering sums that triple their salaries, while being paid in US dollars and able to use various tax methods to further their earnings, the game faces an unprecedented challenge.

Schmidt, an old school rugby man, likened the proposed new competition to cricket’s Twenty20 Indian Premier League.

“I grew up in the amateur era, without really making myself feel particularly old, I still love the tradition in New Zealand, the NPC,” Schmidt said.

READ MORE: What is R360? The rebel rugby competition set to shake up the sport

“The Shute Shield, I still love watching those games. The Hospital Cup – the lads watching the Hospital Cup when we were in Townsville.

“The amount of noise, I think that’s because we’ve got four Brothers guys in the team and everyone else was against Brothers. It was such a good close finish with Bond University there.

“I think with a concept like 360 you tend to get further away from the roots of the game.

“That’s where I was pretty much embedded in the roots of the game as a young kid growing up. So it’s a little bit foreign.

“But I guess it’s a little bit akin to the IPL, isn’t it? That was transformative to a degree to cricket. I’ve got to say, I really enjoy watching Big Bash. I think it’s a really good concept.

“At the same time, the traditions of longer term cricket like five-day cricket or the games that are played for three or four days, I still see appeal in those. So if the balance can be maintained, I’m just not sure about so much of it and what it actually is going to look like. It’s hard to predict.”

Schmidt rejected the notion that leagues like R360 were needed to attract a younger audience to rugby.

“We had a sold out stadium in Allianz (in Sydney against Argentina) and there were lots of kids,” Schmidt said.

“I’ve had some unbelievable letters from kids who said how proud they are to support the Wallabies and things like that. I still think there is connection there. It’s our responsibility to keep growing that connection in our current competitions.”

With Ardie Savea and Richie Mo’unga strongly linked to R360, All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said they were confident of keeping their best players in New Zealand.

“I’m heavily involved with the contracting side of stuff and we’re really pleased with our next four years,” Robertson said.

“It’s probably like your four years, you know, we’ve got the Greatest Rivalry Tour next year (against South Africa), and obviously the Rugby World Cup here in Aussie, and then we’ve got the Lions tour.

“So the next four years, a lot of our players have been locked in for that period. Some players, we know have looked, it’s part of their agents’ (job) to do that, to try and create the best deal and opportunity for them.

“So we’ve worked closely with them, but all our players we know have either signed with us or about to sign, but they’ve looked at the opportunity, so that’s all we know.”

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Schmidt said the proposed location of R360 teams, from Dubai and London to New York, Miami, Madrid and Lisbon, further moves the competition away from traditional rugby games, with organisers of the league looking to combine weekend games with concerts and DJ sets.

“Where you’re talking about Dubai, you’re talking about totally different environments where there will be different events, it will be an event more than just a game,” Schmidt said.

“A game of rugby between two teams becomes a festival of spectator engagement. I think that’s what the differentiation they’re looking for. I guess that’s their challenge, to make sure that’s what happens.”