‘Fighting for survival:’ NZ Rugby boss admits to uncertainties
The return date for rugby in New Zealand remains up in the air as the nation prepares to go into an unprecedented four-week period of self-isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson, speaking on Sky’s The Breakdown show on Tuesday, admitted rugby was ‘‘fighting for its survival’’ but the million-dollar question of when rugby could return – and in what format – could not yet be answered.
‘‘I guess the key thing is when we actually get the green light to get back into it,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘There’s a whole range of possibilities of what that might look like. It could be Super, it could involve Mitre 10.
‘‘All those things are up in the air at the moment and we’ve got a team of people much more clever than I am around competition modelling and understanding windows and calendars.’’
NZ Rugby had been planning to stage a series of Kiwi derbies to replace Super Rugby but bowed to the inevitable on Monday and canned that idea after the government announced the country was going into a month-long lockdown.
Robinson admitted the shutdown was causing stress ‘‘at all levels’’ of rugby throughout the country but any decisions on what the game would look like for the rest of the year wouldn’t be made until next week at the earliest.
‘‘We’re fighting for sport’s survival in New Zealand around rugby and if you can’t get motivated by that challenge and the opportunity that sits beyond that then we’ll never be motivated.
‘‘It’s challenging and obviously it’s creating anxiety in our game at all levels, from our clubs and community level and into our professional ranks,’’ Robinson said on The Breakdown.
‘‘But we’ve got great people working on this.
‘‘We’ve just got to take a little more time to understand the information we have to gather and then we’ll be in a position hopefully early next week to start making some decisions and giving a bit more direction and certainty to people.’’
Robinson also said he had taken part in a conference call with World Rugby on Tuesday morning but talks with regard to the July test window were in their early stages.
‘‘They [World Rugby] are in a similar mode to what we all are at the moment, trying to understand a whole range of different scenarios,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘At the moment the dialogue looks very positive and constructive but like a lot conversations we need a bit more time to play out what this might look like.’’
Robinson confirmed that NZ Rugby had ‘‘to cut a lot of expenditure to preserve our financial situation’’ and praised All Blacks hooker Dane Coles’ comments about his readiness to take a pay cut if necessary.
‘‘The detail of what that looks like is still to be worked through but I was heartened to read Dane’s comments,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘I thought he was very measured in what he said about the government and their leadership and the fact the country has got to work through this.
‘‘It’s great to have leading player like that acknowledge it’s a nationwide and global issue and put some context around that.’’
‘‘It’s creating anxiety in our game at all levels.’’
Mark Robinson