Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has launched the new Indo Pacific Rugby Championship to kick off next year. Forrest is in negotiations with the Australian Rugby Union to ensure players who compete in his competition will also be eligible to play Super Rugby and represent the Wallabies.

The billionaire’s actions come after his beloved Western Force were cut from Super Rugby. He hopes to have six teams in the competition, which is expected to start early next August.

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Forrest said it would be in the ARU’s best interests to allow Wallabies players to feature in the new competition as well as Super Rugby.



Late last month, Forrest called on Cameron Clyne to resign over the ARU chairman’s decision to axe the Force. But the pair had since made up, and Forrest said his discussions with the ARU about the new Indo Pacific competition had been positive.

“There’s been a fair bit of water under the bridge with Cameron and I,” Forrest said. “We had a frank and friendly discussion when he was here recently. “We were cast as adversaries. We did not agree with the cancelling of this magnificent team [Western Force].

“In that adversarial form, we did have to go a little toe to toe. But now with the Western Force becoming an international team ... there should be nothing but collaboration on behalf of Australian rugby.”

The ARU confirmed it was in discussions with Forrest. “ARU is involved in collaborative discussions with Andrew Forrest and his Minderoo team and we look forward to continuing these discussions over the coming weeks,” Clyne said in a statement.

“We do not wish to comment on the specifics of any proposed new competitions while these discussions are at a preliminary stage. ARU remains committed to maintaining a strong rugby presence in Western Australia and will explore all options in this regard.”