True price of getting in bed with money men

BACK in the day, players blessed with the ability to count without using their fingers would follow a well-trodden path from field to finance house, where well-rewarded jobs were ready and waiting. Suddenly, the traffic is moving in the opposite direction.

Silver Lake, a private equity firm operating out of California, is the latest moneybags outfit to flash the cash at the Union game, offering the best part of half a billion dollars to New Zealand Rugby in return for a 15 per cent share of commercial rights generated primarily by the All Blacks.

This mirrors the hoovering-up exercise currently being undertaken by the Luxem- bourgbased asset management company CVC, who have already bought themselves a significant stake in the European game and show no immediate signs of returning their wallets to their inside pockets.

The last time anyone checked, neither concern was listed as a registered charity. It is safe to assume, therefore, that they are not driven exclusively by a deep-rooted love of the sport.

We are often told that governments should borrow to invest, on the grounds that money has never been cheaper. If rugby’s governing class gets it wrong with the likes of Silver Lake and CVC, the new funding may turn out to be pricier than we think.