NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby

All Blacks play too many tests, say third of NZers

Herald online
7 Mar, 2010 09:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Continuing our series on the state of rugby in NZ

Over a third of New Zealanders say the All Blacks play too many tests, A DigiPoll for nzherald.co.nz has found.

The poll asked 600 people if they thought the All Blacks played too many rugby tests in a season. More than 35 per cent answered "yes" while 43 per cent said the number of tests was "about right" and 7.2 per cent said there were "too few". The remaining 14.5 per cent said "don't know".

The test calendar is one of the topics that comes up at every negotiating round between the New Zealand Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association.

Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol said ideally it would like to see 12 tests a year - three less than were played last year.

Thirteen test matches have been confirmed for this year and Mr Nichol said the NZRU is in negotiations to organise more.

He said while the unions' coffers need to be taken into account, the reputation of international rugby must also be protected and too many international matches in a year would erode the unique qualities of the game.

"You never want to see an All Black test match taken for granted because they should be special, unique contests where it is the best versus the best," he said.

Mr Nichol said over-exposing test match rugby will devalue the game long-term, plus there are considerations for the players themselves. Last year's Northern Hemisphere tour saw about 14 All Blacks leave young children at home.

"We appreciate rugby is a wonderful opportunity, etcetera, etcetera, but eventually that can cause stress," Mr Nichol said.

He said players need time to recuperate and an end of season tour can cut into that.

Instead of trying to schedule more test matches, the NZRU should look at sharing revenue with other unions which make huge profits when the All Blacks play overseas.

"When people at home watched the All Blacks fill the stadium in Milan last year, we didn't get any of that - arguably it cost us money to go," Mr Nichol said.

The NZRU's Commercial Manager Paul Dalton said the poll result shows support for the test calendar.

"We're not surprised at these views - there's solid support for the number of Tests the All Blacks currently play - noting that 50.4 per cent think they're playing about the right level or could be playing more.

"As your survey indicates, rugby as a topic tends to generate some very diverse views," Mr Dalton said in a statement.

Supporters clubs

Canterbury Rugby Supporters Club president Dick Taylor said he would have expected more respondents to say there are too many All Blacks matches.

The Air New Zealand Cup had brought people back to the game, but would always be put aside for All Blacks games.

Mr Taylor said there was despondency generated by the All Blacks' performance at the World Cup and the decision to re-hire Graham Henry as coach had turned some people off the game.

But the cheaper ticket prices offered by the Canterbury union and last year's Ranfurly Shield win to Southland has re-kindled an interest in provincial rugby, he said.

Mr Taylor said, so far, that has not been translated to the international matches.

Auckland Rugby Union Supporters Club president Barry Cave said pulling the All Blacks from some of the provincial games is only one of the reasons why his club is seeing a drop off in numbers.

He said the All Blacks play too many tests and don't have a chance to recuperate from injuries.

"It's a great thing to have the All Blacks playing but it does affect the other tiers of rugby," Mr Cave said.

Wellington Rugby Supporters Club president Graham McGuire said he felt the number of tests was about right.

"They get paid to play," he said.

TV viewers

TV audience numbers for All Blacks test matches remain high, according to figures from AGB Neilsen.

The final Tri-Nations game in 2008 between Australia and the All Blacks saw 397,280 people over the age of five tuning in at 10pm, while in 2009 the same two teams played three hours earlier and were watched by 510,900.

Over on Sky's free-to-air channel, Prime, the pattern was repeated with 190,020 people tuning in to the 2008 game on delayed coverage and 278,570 people watching the following year.

The Herald DigiPoll was carried out between January 29 and February 10. It had a sample of 600 and a margin of error of +/- 4 per cent.

Discover more

Rugby

Poll: Few fear kids playing rugby

09 Mar 09:00 PM
Rugby World Cup

All Blacks: Old enemy tips NZ for World Cup glory

25 Feb 01:43 AM
Opinion

What do you think of the state of rugby in NZ?

28 Feb 06:32 PM
All Blacks

Poll: Rugby a better game in pro era

08 Mar 09:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rugby

Premium
Opinion

Gregor Paul: How the All Blacks will deal with Scott Barrett's injury

08 Jul 04:52 AM
Black Ferns

World Cup winners Ruby Tui and Krystal Murray join Black Ferns camp

08 Jul 03:25 AM
Rugby

All Blacks captain out with torn calf

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
'The truth will come out': Scott Guy's parents speak 15 years after unsolved murder
New Zealand

'The truth will come out': Scott Guy's parents speak 15 years after unsolved murder

08 Jul 09:03 AM
Family appalled after 99yo's landline left disconnected for days
New Zealand

Family appalled after 99yo's landline left disconnected for days

08 Jul 08:26 AM
'Disgraceful act': Historical graves damaged in Auckland
New Zealand

'Disgraceful act': Historical graves damaged in Auckland

08 Jul 08:25 AM
63,000 lockdown breaches reported as Covid inquiry reveals impact
New Zealand

63,000 lockdown breaches reported as Covid inquiry reveals impact

08 Jul 08:11 AM
CCTV footage shows what daughter did in the wake of allegedly murdering her mother
Crime

CCTV footage shows what daughter did in the wake of allegedly murdering her mother

08 Jul 08:00 AM

Latest from Rugby

Premium
Gregor Paul: How the All Blacks will deal with Scott Barrett's injury

Gregor Paul: How the All Blacks will deal with Scott Barrett's injury

08 Jul 04:52 AM

OPINION: Patrick Tuipulotu will replace Barrett, offering experience and leadership.

World Cup winners Ruby Tui and Krystal Murray join Black Ferns camp

World Cup winners Ruby Tui and Krystal Murray join Black Ferns camp

08 Jul 03:25 AM
All Blacks captain out with torn calf

All Blacks captain out with torn calf

Non merci Hamilton: French snub stay in The Tron before All Blacks series finale

Non merci Hamilton: French snub stay in The Tron before All Blacks series finale

08 Jul 01:44 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search