Expectations and reality could not be more removed from Mark Robinson's tumultuous 11 months as New Zealand Rugby boss. Photo / Getty Images.
Expectations and reality could not be more removed from Mark Robinson's tumultuous 11 months as New Zealand Rugby boss.
Appointed to succeed Steve Tew's domineering presence in September, 2019, Robinson assumed the reins in January.
Almost immediately he was thrust into navigating a financial crisis imposed by the global pandemic; issuing severe funding cutbacks, redundancies, reshaping tournaments, losing the hosting rights to the Rugby Championship and accelerating private equity negotiations.
Robinson accepted responsibility for the game here as the New Zealand public simmered on World Cup anguish. Otherwise, though, the state of the game seemed in decent enough health, notwithstanding the need for overdue evolution.
As it would transpire, Robinson's role is more one of charting revolution.
Super Rugby was a mess before this year's upheaval, and the sharp decline in male teenagers needed addressing, as did Auckland-wide participation, and investment in the women's game, yet no one could predict the scale of challenges to come.
Robinson, promoted from within after serving seven years on the NZ Rugby board, spent much of his first month in the top job abroad. He attended World Rugby meetings in Paris; Adidas headquarters in Germany, the England against Wales Six Nations match at Twickenham.
Covid-19 spikes followed him through those destinations, something of an omen as he returned home to get his feet under the desk.
"I was a week back and we were into lockdown so that really changed things quite quickly," Robinson tells the Herald this week. "We had to address the financials and work towards getting rugby up and running again."
The scale of those financials were revealed this week, with NZ Rugby's cash reserves taking a $40 million hit due to a 36 per cent decline in revenue, despite Robinson being forced to lay off a quarter of staff.
In his Cambridge home, Robinson attempted to work through the myriad issues.
"A lot of it was really challenging. I wasn't unique in that we had people all round the country working through the same things. We had to find the best way possible of being honest with people and creating a very clear picture of the reality of the situation. We certainly didn't get everything perfect through that time but we had to show the way forward was going to look different.
"At a personal level it was very challenging on family, not seeing much of the kids and [wife] Nova during that stage even when I was at based at home in lockdown. I learnt a huge amount about myself and rugby.
"The reality was the model in New Zealand was financially unsustainable and there were challenges around the engagement of the game from community level right through to the professionals. Aspects of participation in the community game are also facing trends that weren't positive."
Rugby's gradual return through the hastily-arranged Super Rugby Aotearoa, subsequent North against South match, belated All Blacks tests and Mitre 10 and Farah Palmer Cup competitions mitigated the worst case scenario that projected a $100 million loss this year.
Further pain is inevitable, however, with New Zealand's 26 provincial unions bracing for 20 per cent cutbacks next year.
Of all the major decisions to reshape the future, NZ Rugby's expressions of interest process to join Super Rugby Aotearoa from next year, which involved splitting from South Africa and Argentina, was the most controversial.
Rugby Australia took great exception to the blunt inference they had to cut teams to join, and therefore did not apply, which significantly soured transtasman relations.
There was also a backlash to not add a Pasifika team for next year.
NZ Rugby's initial preference for an eight-to-10 team Super Rugby competition is now likely to be 12 sides by 2022, providing the five Australian franchises, Fiji Drua and Moana Pasifika prove their financial stability.
"Respect the fact Australia didn't want to participate in that and understand that but we've got a huge amount of insights out of it that will help build the future of professional rugby in this country and our wider region around Australasia and Pasifika.
"You're always going to learn things. We acknowledge we haven't been perfect through all this but at the same time we've nursed the game through to this stage and feel we're creating a strong foundation to leapfrog forward if we can all sacrifice a little bit."
Outside the professional sphere, Robinson admits change is essential to ensure rugby's survival, starting with the arrogance surrounding the belief that what worked long before he played nine tests in the midfield for the All Blacks at the start of the century holds the same appeal to the next generations who now have much more choice.
"Historically we've been able to say 'rugby is a popular sport this is the way it's played and this is the way we deliver it and hopefully you really like it'.
"We're seeing society change and [it] has been for some time. The way people engage with the game, both playing and watching, has to be more tailored to recognise the fact we're changing."
Shifts include recognising the value of day-time kickoffs, investing in alternative game avenues such as under 85kg competitions, and ripper rugby going past the traditional age of nine. Non-contact versions and different numbers of players on the field will all be explored too.
"We have to make the game more accessible and doing it in the traditional way won't allow us to connect with as many people as we want to.
"In time we want to be able to invest more in the community game, in the base of the pyramid. We believe there's huge benefits to be had by engaging with clubs and schools to support them grow the pipeline."
Hosting the women's World Cup next year is another stake in the ground moment that must receive the proper investment and recognition.
"It's a game-changer in terms of what it means for women's rugby in this country. Creating a whole generation of young girls who are captured by the passion, athleticism and skill of this tournament is exciting and we think there's other opportunities off the back of that for what semi-professional, professional competitions might look like."
The catchphrase for all businesses endeavouring to run leaner, more effective operations in the wake of Covid-19 is don't waste a crisis.
Where does that leave NZ Rugby? In a better space than others, Robinson suggests.
"We've recognised there's an opportunity here to change a number of things and we've begun a journey around reimaging what the sport could look like in a post-Covid world.
"We're not all the way there but we've started to develop some ideas around competitions, funding and what our community game could look like. We're quite excited about that next year and beyond.
"By and large when you weigh up all the disruption, all the uncertainty, all the angst and issues that creates around trust right through the game, relative to other parts of the world we're in a pretty good position."
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