Aaron Smith of the All Blacks gestures to the crowd following the Rugby World Cup 2019 Semi-Final match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Aaron Smith of the All Blacks gestures to the crowd following the Rugby World Cup 2019 Semi-Final match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
COMMENT:
Mark New Zealand Rugby's seismic shift for its domestic game down as the most significant since the turn of professionalism.
Having recently emerged from laying off 40 staff, and with plans underway to stage the Rugby Championship in New Zealand from early November to mid-December, there is no shortageof balls in the air for the governing body at present.
The bold decision to ditch South Africa and Argentina, in favour of stitching together an eight-to-10-team competition from next year and beyond, should however turn heads.
Only in time can we judge whether much less contact with South Africa in particular will come at the detriment to the game here.
Robust discussions and divided opinions were shared before the New Zealand Rugby board signed off the regional breakaway from Sanzaar which alters the 25-year partnership from a marriage of convenience to something more akin to causal relationship.
Mutual benefits will continue in the Southern Hemisphere's test arena but, beyond that, New Zealand's new direction leaves it out on a limb calling the shots.
Motives for the regional revamp essentially boil down to money, control and the desire to create a genuinely competitive competition.
Lessons have been learned from Super Rugby Aotearoa's successful forced inception, and NZR are determined not to squander renewed interest.
While not without risks, NZR can now shape its own future. It can handpick teams to complement the quality five New Zealand franchises and, likewise, welcome partners and private investors with a view to building a much more sustainable financial future.
That's the ideal, anyway.
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster with assistant coach John Plumtree and selector Grant Fox during the round 2 Super Rugby Aotearoa match. Photo / Getty Images.
Should this new venture, which includes eventually welcoming a Pasifika team likely to be based in Auckland and a yet-to-be-determined number of Australian sides, spectacularly fail New Zealand Rugby and, indeed, all levels of the game here would go broke.
While that's highly unlikely, these are the high stakes hands at play.
Covid-19 made travel to the likes of South Africa and Argentina problematic and costly but the wheels for change began turning with the Aratipu review before the global pandemic hit.
In many ways, Covid merely presented an opportunity.
New Zealand Rugby, an organisation steeped in conservatism, seized the chance to break from its shell and roll on black to completely alter the landscape.
Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett of the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Look no further than Sanzaar's four member nations signing new five-year broadcast agreements on the basis of a 14 team round robin competition last October for perspective on this rapid overhaul.
Friday's announcement was the first step on the road to the bold new future, one certain to harness visions of forming a closer alliance with Japan's leading Top League teams such as Kobe Steelers and Panasonic.
NZ Rugby clearly believes Asia-Pacific is the future.
In time it's hoped a best-of-the-best crossover club competition will sit atop New Zealand's blueprint for Super Rugby.
The fallout from this decision has only begun, however, with Australia needing to make pitches from next week for the inclusion of two-to-four of their five teams.
Then there is the major question of the ownership and investment structure of the new separate entity that will govern this new competition. The devil will be in the detail here, with questions surrounding the player payment pool and how circling private investment companies such as CVC Capital Partners, Silver Lake or Oakwell Sports Advisor are brought into the equation.
Aaron Smith of the All Blacks gestures to the crowd following the Rugby World Cup 2019 Semi-Final match between England and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Further changes with regards to New Zealand's provincial high performance pathways are also certain to come from the Aratipu review.
New Zealand Rugby has made the leap of faith. With the clock ticking to finalise teams, formats and agreements for next year the pressure is now on to ensure this new direction delivers rewards.
