Wallabies Kurtley May Beale with Wasps

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Kurtley Beale is reportedly set to sign a record two-year deal worth A$2.7 million (Australian dollars) with the London Wasps, according to reports in the Daily Mail.

Such a deal is unlikely to be matched by the Australian Rugby Union even if Beale enters into a flexible deal which allows him to play in Japan.

It would make the Waratahs and Wallabies inside centre the highest-paid player in the English premiership, and the equal-highest paid Australian abroad along with Matt Giteau at Toulon.

Crucially, the 27-year-old – who has a troubled disciplinary record – would still be able to play for the Wallabies given he has now played 60 Tests for Australia.

The Wasps director of rugby Dai Young, while unwilling to discuss specific transfer negotiations, said: “You’ve got to do your own due diligence.

“You certainly don’t want to bring anyone into this environment who’s going to upset the apple cart with the players.

“I certainly don’t want to bring anyone here who won’t maintain the standards of what we expect of Wasps players and staff. I take my responsibilities very seriously on that.

“A lot of people make mistakes, and I’m sure me and you have made a few when we were younger. Some are more documented than others.

“But I’m confident anybody I bring into this environment I’ve done my homework on. What they’ve done in the past is the past.

“But I’m confident that any player who is in this environment will not reflect poorly on Wasps.”

Should Beale arrive, he will team up with the former England fly-half Danny Cipriani who will return to his first club from Sale next season.

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Pulver Delight at ARU TV Deal

Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver says he’s delighted with the ARU’s new $285 million TV contract despite conceding it was “meagre pickings” compared to the AFL and NRL’s billion-dollar broadcast deals.

Pulver hailed the 148% increase in broadcast revenue as a “windfall” that would significantly boost the ARU’s ailing coffers. He said the improved media rights from 2016 to 2020 would also re-energise the game at a grassroots level and enable important investment in key strategic areas to ensure its future health and prosperity in Australia.

While conceding the Australian rugby’s slice of the Sanzar pie was short of the AFL’s new $2.5 billion six-year broadcast deal or the NRL’s $1.8 billion five-year deal, Pulver said the ARU contract was comparable on a per-game basis.

“Anything with a ‘B’ in front of it is clearly tempting but we are very, very happy with our meagre pickings,” Pulver said after reaching an agreement that will allow Fox Sports to continue its 20-year partnership and the Ten Network to remain the free-to-air broadcaster.

“To achieve a 148% growth in revenue from your broadcast outcome, I suspect is the largest increase of any code and it reflects, I think, the growing status that we enjoy in the Australian sporting landscape. And I’m confident that that sort of trend will continue.

“So, look, it’s not for us to try and match those codes in terms of the total broadcast value. It’s up to us to get the right growth we need for the growth of our game and I’m very confident that we’ve achieved that.”

Under the new arrangement with Sanzar – which Pulver said would be close to $1 billion when the New Zealand and South African unions revealed their cuts – Fox Sports retains the Australian TV rights for Test matches played in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as the expanded 18-team Super Rugby competition which will feature sides from Argentina and Japan for the first time in 2016.

And for the first time, Network Ten will show a full replay of the Australian match of the round every Sunday morning plus provide a one-hour Super Rugby highlights show each Monday night.

The new media rights deal also ensures the long-term future of the National Rugby Championship.

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