New Zealand Rugby make decision on Crusaders name change
By NZ Herald
New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey has confirmed the Crusaders will not be changing their name in 2020.
The Crusaders had been weighing up a name change since the Christchurch terrorist attack in March, but Impey today told Jim Kayes on Radio Sport that nothing would be changing next season.
“The reality is that adidas have got to make jerseys, there’s merchandising and that sort of stuff,” Impey told Radio Sport. “You can’t just change the name of a professional team when there are existing contracts.
“So definitely not. There’s no intention and never has been any intention that the Crusaders name would change in 2020.”
Impey said a process was still in place to determine if the name would be changed long term.
“The process regarding the Crusaders name is setup, there’s a sub-committee of the New Zealand board working with the Crusaders board, to see which of the two options will be chosen – either a rebranded Crusaders name or a new name. There’s a process underway to do that, we don’t need to rush it.
“But they will be the Crusaders in 2020.”
New Zealand Rugby committed to changing the team’s contentious imagery and employed a research company to assess the merits of a name change following the March 15 mosque shootings which claimed 50 lives.
The Crusaders name, which they have held since Super Rugby began in 1996, winning a record nine championships along the way, has become a source of public contention as it was the title given to Christian armies who fought against Muslims early in the last millennium.
In March, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said passionate feedback had been heard on both sides of the debate but clearly the imagery of knights, horsemen and swords couldn’t be ignored for its negative connotations. Tew said Research First would consider two options for the 2020 season: retaining the Crusaders name but changing the branding and undertaking a complete rebranding.
This article first appeared on RugbyPass.com/nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission
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Merci Shawn,
Go to commentsThe All Blacks and their continued success basically fund the entire game here. In countries with much bigger economies and larger rugby audiences they can push players more knowing that irrespective of rep or club teams success the size of their economy means that they will always get decent crowd buy in and hides the fact that it is the game itself that is deterring crowd attendance here in NZ. It seems that NZRU have made the decision that the All Blacks, rightly, must be kept in the best position to win to secure the future of the game here possibly, as some have opinioned, at the expense of super rugby. In my view they have to do this because they know that the local game cannot financially stand on its own and frankly as a live spectacle more often than not the games are a done deal before kick off. There are too many rules and too many opportunities for referees and TMO s to stop the game. Too often live crowds are sitting watching nothing. Who wants to watch hookers scoring more tries than wingers? Until the game is, for example, rid of legalised obstruction at the rolling maul which seems to be the aim for every pro team and the game is played wider with no fear of playing with the ball in your half in case the ref spots some minor technical indiscretion, teams will continue to scrum for a penalty, kick for the corner and rolling maul it. Who wants to watch that? That is why no one is going to games - because the viewing experience is rubbish irrespective of whether a couple of All Blacks are playing or not. The NZRU need to get their big boy pants on and do something about the rules.
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