‘Major repairs’ on All Blacks series

Rugby officials have denied claims that internet giant Amazon has dropped the ball on a behind-thescenes documentary series on the All Blacks.

The production was promoted as being on ‘‘a level we’ve never seen before’’.

However, sources say there have been major misgivings about early work done on the series.

One industry insider said NZ Rugby had been ‘‘very unhappy’’ – a claim the rugby union denies – and that the documentary had required ‘‘major repair work’’.

They believed producers might have had their work cut out gathering compelling material from the All Blacks, who were close-knit and polished media performers, not open to ‘‘outsiders’’.

‘‘It is all about themselves and their team, and that’s it.’’

Another said that despite having a budget of about $20 million, there was talk the series might be cut from eight episodes to just six.

Warner Bros, which is coproducing the documentary for Amazon, had drafted in an additional post-production expert from the US at Amazon’s request, to try to sort out issues with the footage and audio, they said. Amazon would not comment. But NZ Rugby chief commercial officer Nick Brown said Amazon and the union were ‘‘very happy with the content capture and the production process so far’’.

The documentary is expected to be released on Amazon Prime Video this year, and financial analysts have speculated it could be a prelude to Amazon attempting to wrestle rugby broadcasting rights away from Sky TV in 2021 – during negotiations that will kick off in April.