Rugby: NZRU's Doig suffering from cancer

Photo / NZ Listener

Christopher Doig, a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) board, has life-threatening cancer.

Doig, an opera singer who went on to become chief executive of New Zealand Cricket before joining the NZRU board, will undergo a second bout of treatment next year, the Sunday Star-Times newspaper reported today.

He was operated on for bowel cancer last year but was recently told the cancer had returned after initially believing the treatment had been successful.

"I had been able to make a full recovery. However, at a recent routine examination, secondary tumours were discovered in my lungs and the condition is considered life-threatening," Doig told the newspaper.

This month the NZRU announced that chairman Jock Hobbs was standing down to focus on his health.

Hobbs had chemotherapy treatment for leukaemia earlier this year but he has since been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Doig felt well enough to continue in his role with the NZRU, the newspaper reported.

- NZPA