In the end,however,budget blowouts,the onset of COVID-19,and an orchestrated Sydney campaign to bring in a club competition in its place all proved too much. When the NRC was cancelled in 2020 few mourned its demise.

Yet they forget its rugby success. It’s almost beyond counting how many future Wallabies cut their teeth in this third-tier competition,but most people forget its impact on coaching. Every current Super Rugby boss – Dan McKellar and Tim Sampson at the Vikings,Brad Thorn at Queensland Country,Darren Coleman at the NSW Country Eagles and Kevin Foote at Perth Spirit all learned their trade in the NRC.

RA will have the best of intentions when it comes to spending any of the profits seemingly coming down the pipeline. That’s a given. But the lesson of 2003 is to make sure that the whole game supports the strategy. In these days of divisive social media,achieving anything close to unanimity is going to be exceptionally difficult.

Yet RA’s concentration on grassroots rugby must extend beyond mere funding.

Even as Reds back-rower Connor Vest was falling to the ground after completing an illegal high shot on the Hurricanes’ Ardie Savea recently,he was putting his arms in the air to effectively apologise. Clearly,World Rugby’s blitz on high tackling is getting through to senior-level players.

So why isn’t RA heading off future problems by tackling that problem,as it were,at grassroots level? As a proud grandparent,I stood on the sideline recently,applauding my grandson as he took his first steps in rugby. He is still working his way into the defensive side of the game,but around him players on both sides were tackling high and little was done to discourage them.

No one wants to spoil the fun and many of the shots were wonderful try-savers,but perhaps if players were automatically substituted for just a short period,they would quickly change their habits. The result:fewer red cards for the Wallabies of 2034.

RA has been untangling and sorting out the strands of Australian rugby for some time now. But with this week’s expected World Cup announcements,it can finally start weaving them back together. It’s a truly magical moment,one that many doubted they would ever live to see.

So let’s get it right this time.

Watch every match of theSuper Rugby Pacific on the Home of Rugby,Stan Sport. Continues this weekend with Brumbies v Crusaders (Friday 7:15pm AEST),Blues v Reds (Saturday 4:30pm AEST) and Waratahs v Hurricanes (Saturday 7:15pm AEST). All streaming ad-free,live and on demand only onStan Sport.

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