Herald on Sunday editorial: How strong is rugby really?

Editorial

Is it possible, as the Herald's series on the state of rugby asks this week, that the national game is fading in our allegiance?

The question seems mistimed when its record at international levels has never been stronger.

The All Blacks have won successive World Cups and have a record to compare with the best in any sport. New Zealand's Super Rugby teams have become so dominant the competition has been engineered to ensure teams from South Africa and Australia can also make the play-offs.

New Zealand teams and coaches have defined modern rugby, producing a game that is faster, harder, more accurate and skilled than it used to be. There is not much wrong with our top rugby on the field. It is outside the stadium, in declining clubs and a less interested country that the game faces problems.

It is a problem shared by all sports. Research published by the Weekend Herald yesterday found only 7 per cent of a sample described themselves as "passionate" about sport in 2014, down from 8.7 per cent three years earlier. Numbers attending matches remained steady but participation had dropped from 6.3 to 4.9 per cent.

Sports clubs are fielding fewer players and struggling to retain members. Rugby clubs may be doing better than most but they are no longer the hives of social activity they used to be on a Saturday evening.

As we report today, schools have replaced clubs as the nurseries of All Blacks. It is usual now for a promising school player to be spotted by scouts for professional rugby or league, and, if the rugby player develops well enough, to graduate through age-group teams to a provincial and possibly a Super Rugby contract. Clubs never see them.

Rugby in New Zealand has reversed the usual character of professional sport where clubs hold the first loyalty of players and fans, and national representation comes second. The All Blacks generate the bulk of the money and the interest of the public. The game at lower levels lives on revenue from the top.

Rugby's relationship with the wider public also now rides on the character and conduct of those at the top, administrators and players. It faces media that reflect the values and sensitivities of higher education.

Women are playing and watching rugby in greater numbers than ever and the game needs to be less macho.

It is changing but maybe not fast enough.