NZR board kicks call to quit into touch
The New Zealand Rugby board has no intention of standing aside.
The New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) on Tuesday called for the entire board to move aside as part of its plan to implement the governance reforms outlined in last year’s Governance Review, but the NZ Rugby board has dismissed that idea as “a distraction”.
In a statement released yesterday, the New Zealand Rugby board said that immediate resignation was never part of the original Governance Review, and instead laid out its intention to keep working with its voting members – the provincial unions and the Māori Rugby Board – in a bid to break the current impasse on governance reform.
“The board’s focus is on working with our voting members on the details of a resolution they will support to achieve that objective of a shift to an independent model of governance,” the statement said.
“Any constitutional change requires a two-thirds majority of votes at a Special General Meeting, so it makes sense to work constructively with voting members ahead of this to ensure we can honour the commitment to an independent model of governance in the best interests of all rugby stakeholders.
“Calls for the current NZR board to stand down are a distraction, and do not accurately reflect the findings of the Governance Review, which was focused on governance reform at a high level, rather than any concerns around the perceived performance of the current board.’’
Stuff understands that New Zealand Rugby chair Dame Patsy Reddy will meet provincial union representative later next week in a bid to thrash out their remaining differences, once and for all.
The NZRPA has been pushing hard for the NZ Rugby board to be replaced by a new nine-person group as outlined in the Governance Review, and will likely oppose any agreement that it views as compromising the independence of the new directors.
However, NZ Rugby said it was backing a transitional model that would satisfy the “principles” that NZRPA chief executive Rob Nichol is calling for.
“In line with the principles NZRPA is advocating for, the NZR board remains committed to the principle of an independent board, an independent process for board appointments and a well-managed transition period,” the statement said.
“As the independent Governance Review found, a shift from the current representative model of governance to an independent model of governance is critical for enabling the board to have a single-minded focus on the execution of strategy to best position rugby in the future for all of its stakeholders.”