The State of Rugby in New Zealand

Steven Orsbourn. Photo / Kenny Rodger

nzherald.co.nz Video Producer Steven Orsbourn has spent three months speaking to some of the biggest names in the game for our State of Rugby series, which launches today and runs over the next two weeks. Here he explains why the series is an important contribution to the debate about our national obsession the year before a World Cup on home soil.

To capture the state of rugby in New Zealand at any given time is an ambitious task. The game and the business of rugby is a fluid breathing and living entity, and that lifeblood is exactly why it exists as part of the DNA for many Kiwis.

This series hopes to start the debate again, raising the bar and tone of the often personal and emotional argument that follows the sport. It is a discussion document of sorts which allows opinions to be voiced from informed and passionate viewpoints.

An old saying around rugby is "to play the ball and not the man" and my intention with this series was to take the malice out of the debate that often seems to fly in your face if you mention the names Henry, Hansen, or Tew.

I believe all the interested parties care about the sport; many of us have played at some level and value the social and sporting ethics that are held dear in NZ.

So why can't we all agree, who is right and who isn't.

It is apparent that rugby in NZ has to make the right decisions and do it fast, that the friction between professional and amateur digs deep to the core frustration of the rugby fans, and that these fans are wavering in their blind loyalty towards the idea that the professionals know best.

They can't understand why rugby starts in February, why teams can't tour, why the All Blacks can't catch or kick. And if they do understand, they don't really like it.

If the people who are the sport in NZ feel left out, or ignored, they vote with their feet and their wallets.

They are sceptics about the Rugby World Cup, and with our country's track record with infrastructure and sporting political failures, how could you blame them. At this stage the emperor has no clothes.

Yet we are on the brink of a utopia of sporting success, the fans have yet to realise the true experience of the Rugby World Cup, to move on from blaming coaches and quarterfinal idiocy, to celebrate and show off all the rugby pride we have. We can do that very well, if we find it in our hearts to follow our leaders. That's the roadblock.

This series is a first for the online audience. The debate is usually via radio or television and captured within the constraints of those mediums.

To firstly broadcast online allowed me to extend the time our interviewees had to answer the question, the traditional TV News sound bite in the news has killed the reasoned answer, and real people do not talk in 20-second "grabs".

It is unfair to ask serious questions and then ignore a considered answer.

The structure of allowing the interviewees to talk and further the debate has been created to make the videos appear "first person". The internet doesn't need a studio audience, a man in a suit, or a panel of experts.

To talk about "keeping boys playing rugby" and "Why we love the game" is as important to the debate as the Rugby World Cup and the All Black coaches. We can't forget the amateur basics that allow the professional game to exist.

So watch the videos, read the attached stories about our poll of the public's view of the state of the game, and view the pictures. Then you can join the online debate via Your Views, or chat about what has been said at the pub, or at footy training.

After watching these videos I hope the public will start again in their judgment of rugby. But as long as you care enough to keep talking about rugby, I've done my job.