Rugby Australia bosses Phil Waugh and Dan Herbert clearly didn’t come down in the last shower.

Given Australian rugby’s chequered track record with financial windfalls, the pair recognise that trumpeting wealth would be almost as dangerous as advertising financial distress.

After paying off RA’s $60 million debt in one fell swoop with proceeds from the British and Irish Lions tour, they were at pains this week to emphasise that there’s still hard work ahead — signalling to all the hungry mouths out there (and player agents) that there would be no giveaways.

But they won’t be able to hide their robust position for long, and next year’s annual report will show how much they have banked after clearing the debt.

Some conservative back-of-the-coaster projections suggest that by 2028, RA will face a big question: What are you going to do with all that cash?

The numbers play out like this: the word is that Lions revenue beat budget by 15 to 20 per cent, bringing in up to $120 million, based on the widely reported initial target.

Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt, incoming coach Les Kiss and Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.Credit: Getty Images

So that’s $60 million in the bank after paying off the debt — but even that’s probably not realistic.

Strip away about $10 million for the last year of interest on the loan (the 2024 annual report showed interest payments........

© WA Today