New Zealand Rugby has become a bloated and dysfunctional mess

It’s heartening to hear that New Zealand Rugby chairman David Kirk is committed to attending board meetings in person. How selfless.

Kirk, the 1987 Rugby World Cup-winning captain, doesn’t live in New Zealand. You might think that was a prerequisite for such a role, but apparently not.

I wouldn’t normally care, given board meetings aren’t my primary interest in rugby.

It’s just that, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) have again posted a significant loss for the latest financial year.

There’s no real news in that announcement, given NZR hasn’t balanced the books too often in the last decade.
They are generating more money than ever before, only more’s going out than what’s come in. That’s hardly a surprise, when staff numbers (185) are at a record high.

Again, I wouldn’t care that the board chairman lives in Sydney if NZR was a profit-making enterprise. It wouldn’t bother me that the organisation boasts so many office staff if the game – at all levels – was in rude health. Only it’s not.

The All Blacks were quite good in 2024. That’s an improvement from being mediocre, which was what they were for several of the seasons previous.

David Kirk in his playing days. (Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images)

I very much admired the way the Chiefs dismantled the Crusaders on Saturday, however I still feel Super Rugby Pacific remains a pale imitation of the competition it once was.

The disservice done to provincial rugby by NZR is shameful, while club rugby has become the equivalent of Sunday pub soccer in England. Something for enthusiastic amateurs to do, before adjourning for refreshments in the clubrooms.

Once an important part of the high-performance pyramid, club rugby is a separate geometrical shape all of its own now.

I can scarcely bring myself to mention women’s rugby. About all I’ll say about that, without getting shot, is that it’s yet to quite realise its commercial potential.

It all makes you wonder what NZR is good at? It makes you wonder what all those employees do all day and in which way they are making the game in New Zealand better?

In absolute fairness, the levels of underperformance aren’t unique. New Zealand’s Minister of Finance is about to release the annual budget and, despite money continually being thrown at things like health, education and infrastructure, outcomes rarely improve in those areas either.

The only thing that you can rely on is that there will be more head office staff recruited by those organisations charged with overseeing core public services.

And so it is with NZR. I’ve long argued that they pay their players too much and the quickest way to balance the books would be to have overseas clubs assume the burden of those salaries.

But we’re not talking about that here. We’re talking about an organisation losing money hand over fist, but which has reportedly increased staff levels in the last couple of years by 65 people.

Perhaps that’s how costs rose from $277 million in the previous financial year to $305 million this time around, on the back of $285 million coming in the door.

It says something about a governing body when it can’t make ends meet when revenue’s the thick end of $300 million.

The social media reaction I saw to the announcement of the latest deficit was interesting, with a number of people harkening back to TJ Perenara’s hijacking of the All Blacks haka last year and the subsequent interview in which NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said he encourages players to speak out on social issues and indulge in political point scoring.

 NZR CEO Mark Robinson. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

I think NZR has definitely alienated some fans, although any evidence to that end is only anecdotal.

What I do know, for example, is that the volume of NRL bets placed with New Zealand’s TAB dwarfs those on rugby.

You might think, so what? But, to me, that’s just one tangible example that NZR is losing the local sports market.

While the expenses of NZR’s board and its many, many staff don’t appear as if they’re about to lessen anytime soon, the upcoming Men’s Pathways and Competitions report seems likely to further diminish the relevance and quality of provincial rugby.

Kirk is said to be in regular Zoom contact with provincial unions, which is at least cheaper than having him fly to and from Sydney on a weekly basis. Then again, having a chair who was actually committed to this country might instil more confidence in his decision-making.

I don’t really have a problem with Kirk. I merely point these things out to paint a picture of some of the dysfunction at NZR.

To me, it’s a place where a lot of talking gets done, a lot of reports get written and a lot of excuses get made for why they can’t live within their means.

It’s that which needs to change, rather than further scrimping on player pathways.