NZ Rugby forced to explore alternatives to Silver Lake deal

New Zealand Rugby chief Mark Robinson provided an update on the Silver Lake deal. Photo / Getty

New Zealand Rugby and the Players' Association will meet one week out from Christmas as they attempt to break the deadlock on the Silver Lake deal but as the long-running impasse drags on, the national body has committed to exploring other investment opportunities.

Eight months on from the Herald revealing details of the Silver Lake deal, NZR and the Players' Association remain locked in negotiations through collective bargaining about whether a partnership with the US technology investment giants is the best path to bankroll the game, despite New Zealand's 26 provincial unions signing off on the arrangement in April.

In September the Herald revealed Silver Lake's potential stake in NZ Rugby's commercial rights had decreased from 12.5 to 7.5 per cent at a significantly higher valuation than the original $3.1 billion – yet fundamental differences clearly remain with the Players' Assocation pushing public over private investment avenues.

NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson fronted media in Wellington on Thursday following the final board meeting of the year. As well as being grilled about the respective reviews into the All Blacks and Blacks Ferns, Robinson volunteered an update of sorts around the stagnant Silver Lake deal in which he suggested NZ Rugby would soon explore back up investment options.

"We're still carrying on working with the RPA, our stakeholders and Silver Lake around the deal but parallel to that we'll get moving and provide some real action in terms of supercharging the revenue opportunities we believe sit for New Zealand Rugby globally and domestically," Robinson said.

"Silver Lake are incredibly supportive of this approach. They will provide some guidance and insights as we work through standing up this work within our own organisation and that's a strong sign, on top of the patience they've shown over the last many months, that we think eventually we'll hopefully get to a deal but in the interim we're not going to lose any more ground in having to take this area forward.

"We believe the world is moving on. With my time in the Northern Hemisphere recently the introduction of investment partners is having an immediate impact. We're seeing significant revenue growth ourselves, but we believe it can be far greater if we have the necessary investment to grow that further.

"We hope we can still conclude a deal quickly but alongside that we're not prepared to lose any more time."

Asked whether the Silver Lake deal could collapse, Robinson said: "That's a possibility. The reason for moving ahead with our own investment case is to cover those bases. If we can get the Silver Lake deal across the line we have the opportunity to plug that straight into what we've already done. If we can't then we carry on with what we're doing.

"We've got more conversations next week so we are moving forward, however slow it seems from the outside there is still progress and the dialogue and tone is constructive. The fact we're meeting again a week before Christmas shows there's a real desire to do something."

On other topics Robinson was reluctant to offer his views on the distressing allegations made against Black Ferns coach Glenn Moore by veteran hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate that included suggestions she had only been picked to play the guitar and didn't deserve to be in the team.

Ngata-Aerengamate said her treatment led to a mental breakdown on the Black Ferns tour, which featured four record defeats to England and France.

Robinson would not confirm whether the findings of the review into Ngata-Aerengamate's allegations on social media would be made public.

"We are currently finalising terms of reference for that and putting finishing touches on an independent panel with a broad cross section of skills and diversity that we think can bring value into that piece of work. We'll commence that work with a view to bringing something back early in the new year.

"In any setting when it comes to our people we have a huge amount of sympathy for anyone going through challenging times like this. I know our people have been in contact with Te Kura to make sure she has got all the support possible and understanding all the things she would like to see as part of this work.

"It's not my place to prejudge anything. We have a huge regard for the work Glenn has done over many years in our environments, but we're taking it really seriously."

Following Joe Schmidt's appointment as All Blacks selector and performance analyst from next August, Robinson was similarly cagey about whether Ian Foster's assistant coaches – John Plumtree, Brad Mooar, Greg Feek and Scott McLeod – will be re-signed.

"We're committed to a review on all aspects of that at the moment," he said. "We've been able to make a call on Joe really quickly. We just need some more detail on the review findings before we can comment any further."

Asked whether he stood by the decision to extend Foster's contract for a further two years prior to the Rugby Championship, Robinson said: "At the time we did a huge amount of work where we consulted widely across the environment and our players before making that decision. We saw some outstanding rugby soon after that and then clearly there were a couple of games later in the year where everyone was disappointed.

"The resolve amongst that group is incredibly high to address the areas we think we can improve. We've made a commitment to provide the resources to do that."

While New Zealand's seven-day isolation stipulations are in place Super Rugby Pacific's future remains uncertain, with Robinson indicating a decision on next year's competition could arrive in the coming days. One solution could involve shifting all teams to Australia, or front loading the draw with local derbies.

Likewise, the structure of the 2022 NPC season continues to be debated by the provincial unions.