Australian rugby staring into abyss as coronavirus shutdown takes toll

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 100 staff cleared their desks at Rugby Australia's shiny offices near Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday and Wednesday in a troubling portent of an uncertain future for the game in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown.

Already cash-strapped after five years of only modest success on the field and ructions off it, the suspension of all professional sport to help contain the pandemic has come as a perfect storm for rugby union's governing body in Australia.