NZ Rugby needs to join the club for kids’ sake

New Zealand Rugby’s decision to employ consultant McKinsey on a wide-ranging review of our national sport at least shows it recognises the seriousness of the situation.

The near-complacent assumption that New Zealanders will always follow and play rugby has clearly disappeared with new chief executive Mark Robinson.

However, a large portion of the press release confirming the story of the review broken by the Herald this week concerned itself with financial efficiencies, growth opportunities and high-performance pathways. Very little was mentioned about the alarming drop in participation rates among children or at club level.

There is a nagging suspicion that putting the rugby nurturing of our children into the hands of our secondary schools, as has increasingly occurred over the past decade, may not have been the best way forward.

Rugby education at secondary school level can be excellent; teaching the child about life, healthy living, and managing expectations and disappointments. But it is

Clubs play a huge part in the rugby education of our kids and can provide a lasting role once they leave school.

invariably fleeting, even if the child is playing at a high level. On leaving school, the link has gone. And those who don’t make top teams can quickly feel they are not a priority.

That club rugby is in trouble in New Zealand — even in Auckland — is not new. Even large clubs struggle to consistently put out teams in some competitions, as do some secondary schools now.

Clubs play a huge part in the rugby education of our kids and can provide a lasting role once they leave school. NZ Rugby mustn’t take this for granted.