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New Zealand Rugby farewell another long-serving executive

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 29: NZR Head of Professional Rugby Chris Lendrum speaks to the media during a Crusaders Super Rugby Media Announcement at Rugby Park on November 29, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Following the Christchurch Mosque attacks, the Crusaders conducted a brand review and today presented their new logo. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) General Manager Professional Rugby and Performance Chris Lendrum is moving on from the governing body after more than 20 years at the organisation.

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The role Lendrum vacates in May will cease to exist following his exit, with NZR opting to “evolve” its structure by introducing two new positions in its place: High Performance Director and Chief Rugby Officer.

Lendrum’s role involved player retention, investment in the women’s game, overseeing high-performance programs and helping NZR navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Lendrum will serve as a consultant for the remainder of 2026

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“I have known Chris for almost his entire professional career, having first hired him into the professional rugby team at NZR 20 years ago,” said Interim CEO Steve Lancaster.

“Over that period, he has grown into an internationally respected sporting leader and has made an enormous contribution to rugby in New Zealand.

“Chris has led with integrity and a deep care for the game and our people. He leaves with our sincere thanks and best wishes. He has been involved in the discussions to evolve our High Performance leadership structure, and we know he will continue to contribute to rugby in the future.”

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Lendrum highlighted the Black Ferns’ 2022 Rugby World Cup win as a particularly proud moment during his NZR career.

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“It’s been a huge privilege to be involved in New Zealand Rugby and our national teams for this long, and work alongside some incredible people across the game.

“Together, we’ve seen plenty of success, although sometimes we haven’t achieved goals that we and the country all wanted so dearly.

“There are too many highlights, but I’m particularly proud of leading the organisation through the Black Ferns culture and environment review in 2021, which set the foundation for the incredible Rugby World Cup win a year later.

“As international rugby becomes increasingly competitive and complex, NZR now requires a singular focus on driving the success of our Teams in Black. I’m excited for their future.”

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Expanding on the new roles NZR is establishing, Lancaster explained that the new High Performance Director will focus on New Zealand’s national teams, while the Chief Rugby Officer will oversee much of the professional rugby operations below the international level, right down to the community game, while also managing key stakeholder relationships and agreements.

Lancaster himself will step into the role of Chief Rugby Officer once the search for a new CEO concludes.

“Our refreshed strategy has a clear focus on our national teams consistently winning, supported by strong performance pathways for players and coaches. As an organisation, we need to ensure we are set up to deliver this,” Lancaster said.

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Comments

3 Comments
G
GS 46 days ago

That must be close to 100% turnover in senior management at NZRFU over the past 12 months. That sort of turnover at that level of the executive team indicates a workplace with serious issues.


Hopefully, the next CEO is high quality, will be very interesting with this complete change in Mgmt, if some big decisions will be made - likes of allowing selection of overseas players, youth development and seeing off the challenge of the likes of the NRL etc.


Some interesting changes ahead, I would guess - because if you wanted the same old, same old, NZRFU would have just retained all these guys, so it's reasonable to assume incoming staff will be empowered to start making changes.


Finally have to laugh at Corporate speech - “consultant to end of 2026” - it’s called locking away his IP and knowledge of every key player and coach remuneration, so that no clubs hire him and utilise his knowledge to target players/coaches etc.

J
JW 43 days ago

Hasn’t he gone into another sport?


This process started a couple of years ago with the review and reform GS.

H
Hammer Head 46 days ago

NZR recruitment department working overtime

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