The All Blacks have travelled from Auckland to the USA to face Fiji in San Diego on Saturday
Hamilton was initially in line to host Scott Robertson’s third test as head coach
New Zealand Rugby will continue to look for opportunities to maximise their commercial revenue in new markets
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and has written several books about sport.
OPINION
As the All Blacks try to make commercial inroads into the United States this week by playingin San Diego, they will be taking yet one more step away from their fan base and possibly driving the last nail in the coffin of ambitious provincial venues hoping to host domestic tests.
There is, as will become evident, little hope for the likes of Napier, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Nelson that they will ever again host an All Blacks test.
This week’s test against Fiji was potentially going to be played in Hamilton, but San Diego came in with an offer and, while everyone pretended there was a decision to be made, once there was a choice of going to either California or Waikato, the lure of the US was always going to win out.
It’s not that playing in the US will necessarily net more cash – a sold-out Waikato Stadium and lower associated costs of getting the team there would have made the two options financially comparable – but NZ Rugby (NZR) has staked its financial future to an investment thesis that says it can win major new revenue streams in offshore markets.
The All Blacks, therefore, aren’t going to San Diego just to win a test – they are there to provide a marketing narrative and visual showcase to drive this quest to start converting even just a fraction of the 330 million people in the US into rugby fans.
Hamilton never stood a chance and NZR’s commercial ambition and desire to play the long game of globalising and monetising the All Blacks has effectively killed any prospect of provincial New Zealand seeing the national team come to town again.
The process of deciding where the All Blacks play has become intrinsically linked to longer-term brand strategy objectives and direct and indirect commercial returns to such an extent that the list of venues in line to host domestic tests has been reduced to Eden Park, Sky Stadium, Forsyth Barr Stadium and, in time, the new stadium in Christchurch.
These are the only venues that can deliver the requisite yields – and the fact that Waikato Stadium found itself competing with San Diego illustrates the dawn of a new era where provincial unions simply can’t mount a compelling enough financial case to win a fixture.
It’s also an era in which they have found that their trump card of fan connection, community engagement and inspiring the next generation has lost its value.
San Diego, Chicago, Tokyo, London, Perth, Shanghai and Qatar are all more likely venues to host All Blacks tests than Hamilton, Napier, New Plymouth or Nelson, signalling that a national team once populated by provincial heroes and that regularly played in provincial centres has transformed into a fully urbanised and globalised entity.
To some degree, there is a secondary story tied up in this shift – one that speaks to New Zealand’s chronic lack of investment in infrastructure which has left Hawke’s Bay and Tasman with quaint but dilapidated facilities, while Taranaki is a year away from reopening its iconic Yarrow Stadium.
But the Waikato Stadium case suggests that, even if all three provinces had state-of-the-art facilities, they would still be a long shot to win hosting rights to a test, and that the professional game is on an irreversible path towards disconnecting entirely from the grassroots.
The All Blacks seem unlikely ever to play again in provincial centres such as Napier, Nelson and New Plymouth, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Photosport
There are still players who start their journey in the hinterlands – but it tends to be fleeting, such is the gravitational pull of the increasingly powerful urban schools where young players and their parents feel they need to be if the system is to recognise them as holding legitimate professional aspirations.
With a wider body of work ongoing right now to reconfigure the national provincial championship and put elite development pathways more firmly under the control of Super Rugby clubs, the regions are set to be yet more cut off from the higher echelons of the game.
Throw in the fact that nowhere outside Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin is likely to be hosting an All Blacks test in the next few years, and there is reason to wonder how rugby in New Zealand will retain that deeply important sense of connection and cohesion where everyone from Kaitaia to Bluff feels they have a role to play in finding and nurturing test players.
The players themselves are desperately trying to keep the spirit of togetherness and unity alive, and in recent weeks Dane Coles, Beauden Barrett and Ardie Savea have all played club rugby.
But for the All Blacks to remain the people’s team – one that represents all of New Zealand – there needs to be a realisation that there is an illogical flaw driving this commercialisation model.
NZR is disenfranchising the community game by pursuing the acquisition of cashed-up offshore fans to supposedly reinvest this foreign loot to save the community game.
It all seems a bit ill-conceived, mired in economic theory that ignores the value of the next generation of All Blacks seeing their heroes in their community, going to their school, having a coffee in their local cafe and playing a test at their stadium.
These may seem little things but, for young minds looking for inspiration and direction, they can be life-changing. Provincial New Zealand needs real and meaningful interaction with the All Blacks – not promises of cash windfalls that will come from ventures on foreign soil.
