NZRPA CEO Rob Nichol. Photo / Photosport
- The New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association has called for the resignation of the entire NZ Rugby board
- The NZRPA wants to instead place an interim group in place for two years to oversee necessary changes
- There is a ‘lack of trust and confidence’ in the game’s leadership
- It has been more than eight months since the Pilkington Review found significant failings within rugby
Rugby’s governance stalemate looks set to be broken, following an intervention by the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) which has mapped out a plan believed to have already garnered significant support from provincial unions.
In a proposal that calls for the New Zealand Rugby (NZR) board to stand down with immediate effect and is at pains to stress the universal lack of trust and confidence in the game’s leadership, the NZRPA has given a clear indication that it has lost patience with a process that has dragged on for eight months and become mired in self-preservation politics.
“The NZR Governance Review has revealed a universal sentiment in New Zealand rugby - the need for urgent change, and a lack of trust and confidence in the current leadership of NZR,” says NZRPA boss Rob Nichol.
“It has been eight months since the release of the review. The game is widely regarded as impotent/disorganised and incompetent and is essentially in a state of governance chaos.
“The very issues highlighted in the review and that contributed to its conclusion - that NZR governance is not fit for purpose - are literally manifesting themselves in front of New Zealand’s eyes.
“There is now a leadership vacuum, and, as such, this proposal is designed to fill that vacuum and provide something the entire game can unite behind and support.”
The NZRPA co-commissioned the independent review into NZR’s governance structure and held the expectation that the findings of the report - to scrap the current system in favour of appointing nine independent directors - would have been readily adopted, given the obligations of the national body and its member unions to operate in good faith and implement change where possible.
But while NZR and the provincial unions have stated they broadly support the review, they have steadfastly refused to build a change proposal exactly as has been recommended.
Instead, the unions have continued to put forward compromised versions of the review’s recommendations, while NZR has also been unwilling to take a hard line and force a vote to adopt the review in its entirety.
The situation is universally agreed to be shambolic, with unions themselves split on how they want to progress and NZR chair Dame Patsy Reddy having said she will resign if she can’t corral the 26 provinces into a majority decision.
Nichol, however, believes the whole board needs to stand down immediately, because it is the right thing for the game.
“The existing NZR board was appointed through the existing constitutional and governance structure. The review panel determined the existing NZR constitution and governance structure was not fit for purpose.
“It therefore stands that the existing NZR board is not fit for purpose and potentially finds itself acting in a caretaker capacity pending the appointment of a new NZR board.
“Against that background, the honourable and appropriate thing to do is for the existing NZR board to offer their resignations and, should they desire, reapply through the newly constituted process.”
The NZRPA’s proposal is for NZR’s board to make way for a steering group to oversee governance change.
The main concern of the provincial unions has been their fear that they will be shut out of the game if they don’t have direct representation around the NZR table, which is why they have continually campaigned to retain control of the panel that appoints directors and to mandate that at least three of the nine board members should have tangible governance experience at the community level.
The NZRPA’s plan is to put in place an interim appointments panel that will be comprised of the existing Appointments and Remuneration Committee chair, Julia Raue, the four people who conducted the governance review - David Pilkington, Graham Mourie, Anne Urlwin and Whaimutu Dewes, and one person nominated by the newly formed steering committee.
This group will operate for two years before standing down to be replaced by an appointments panel that will follow the review’s recommendation of having two people independently appointed by the Institute of Directors, one independent member - not a current NZR director - appointed by the board, and two members appointed by the new stakeholder council that has been suggested be formed.
The NZRPA’s proposal will publish the key competencies that the new NZR board must contain and states: “The board should include some directors who have a background in rugby in a governance or management role.”
This specifically speaks to the unions’ concerns about not having representation on the new board and is elaborated on by Nichol.
“Since the release of the review, some PUs [provincial unions] have expressed concern that any new independent merit-based NZR board carries a risk of a lack of rugby governance and/or management experience.
“The review goes to some length to ensure that this would not, in practice, be the case.
“However, it is acknowledged in the review that rugby now operates in a complex world, from community, schools and not-for-profit grassroots through to high performance pathways and programmes, commercialisation and what is now a global professional sports industry.
“Ensuring the NZR board has people with direct experience operating in these environments, and at the various levels, is important. Including this principle in any competency framework is aimed at assuring concerned PUs that this issue is recognised and will be addressed under the new model.”
It is understood that a number of unions are likely to be supportive of the NZRPA’s proposal and will push to have it put to a vote at a Special General Meeting.
NZR says it did not have sufficient time in which to make a comment about the proposal.
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.
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