Legal experts will weigh up the merits of the Rebels’ decision to sue Rugby Australia for $30 million in damages, but the bigger question for the Rebels’ directors is this: What competition do you suppose you’ll be playing if you win?

It won’t be Super Rugby, because a Rugby Australia minus $30m won’t have the ability to fund five teams. Unless the Rebels backers are sitting on at least $20 million a year to fund not only themselves but the other four teams, a successful legal action would put them on course to achieve the greatest Pyrrhic victory of all time.

And in the court of public opinion, arguably as important in the current climate, the Rebels are very unlikely to secure any sort of win among a rugby public worn down by negative headlines. They are likely to see the legal action as opportunistic, rather than for the greater good of the game.

Wallaroos make a statement

The WXV competition over the past month has confirmed that the women’s game has one dominant team – England – and a chasing pack that is growing and extraordinarily competitive. As a result, the Wallaroos’ third straight win against Scotland overnight to claim the WXV2 crown is a major step forward.

The Scots are no mugs, and have been fairly miserly defensively, so the Wallaroos’ 31 points is a welcome sign their attack in particular is moving in the right direction. Australia are not the only team on the up – Canada and Ireland have shown some good signs in the WXV1 competition – but it does look like the Rugby World Cup won’t be just about the big three of England, New Zealand and France next year.

The pangs for a third tier

Everyone understands that RA is financially constrained at the moment (see item No.1) but it’s that time of the year when the absence of an NPC/Currie Cup competition is most keenly felt.

The Kiwis are in playoff mode – Brumby Ben O’Donnell’s campaign ended with a loss on Saturday – and they are finding out a lot about their next tier of players in those encounters, good and bad. New Zealand Rugby also had the luxury of throwing 14 All Blacks into the NPC over the weekend, giving them some much-needed game time before the end-of-year tour. But, just as importantly, an Australian equivalent in the same window would give Australian rugby some content when the NRL and AFL is done and dusted.