The initial response was lukewarm in the provinces, who felt it was yet more undeserved special treatment for the country's largest city. The NZRU argued that the game needs Auckland to be strong.
For rugby to prosper nationally, Auckland's playing numbers, fan engagement and commercial investment have to be better than they currently are.
It's doubtful any of the wider regions' administrative bodies will welcome the intervention, but self-interest and conflicting ambitions have long been a contributing factor to the problem.
Outside influence is required because something's not right and internecine politics is going to get in the way of it being fixed.
The greater Auckland region has talented kids seemingly falling out of trees and offshore agents and scouts from various codes swarm all over the city to grab what they can.
More than 40 per cent of all New Zealand's Super Rugby players were developed in Auckland and yet the Blues are rooted to the bottom of the table and playing as if they are blindfolded.
The Auckland 1A First XV competition exposes young players to brutal, relentless games where they have to rely on their decision-making as much as their raw power. And yet, as young men move into the professional ranks, those mental skills don't always come with them.
What's strange is that Auckland is recognised by the rest of the rugby world as one of, if not the, greatest talent pool in the world. It is not, however, recognised as a city with world-class professional teams.
The days of teams dreading coming to Auckland are long gone. Neither the Blues nor Auckland are seen as unbeatable on their home patch as they once were and, as for North Harbour ...
Almost certainly things aren't going to change in 2015. For the 10th year in succession, the Blues coach is unable to say why his side are failing to get remotely close to their potential. For the third time in three years, the Blues coach finds his head on the chopping block before the likes of Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock are back from their sabbatical.
Much like Pat Lam and David Nucifora before him, Sir John Kirwan is having to try to convince a perplexed fanbase that results are not far away. Kirwan, just as Lam and Nucifora both said, is talking about significant changes having been made behind the scenes. Each coach comes, hints at finding chaos in the set-up when they arrive and the need for everyone to be patient and understanding.
"Someone said the other day this is what keeps happening," says Kirwan. "All I can say to that is we haven't won for 13 years. This club has taken on a completely different shape. It is very different to how it was two years ago.
"For me, I think it's important that I take responsibility for what is going on - that we have a good look at the process and make sure we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater because we believe we are heading in the right direction.
"What we are doing is ... the club is coming right.
"We have a really supportive board with good vision. Michael [Redman] our chief executive is driving the club in the right direction.
"We are going to a new facility. We have a bunch of young guys who are working really hard as professionals."
Long-suffering Auckland rugby followers have heard all this before. It has been this way for too long. No one in the past decade has been able to turn the enormous pool of talent in the greater Auckland region and build dominant professional rugby teams.
Whoever the NZRU appoint to oversee change, they face a difficult battle just to win hearts and minds of the various unions with whom they will be working.
It looks, from the outside, to be an impossible job. But if nothing else, creating the new post is a start.
