Pay cuts are just the tip of the iceberg for New Zealand Rugby when it comes to COVID-19
Pay cuts are the topic of the day as New Zealand Rugby (NZR) deals with the ramifications of COVID-19.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster and star playmaker Beauden Barrett have both confirmed that their back pockets will be in line for shrinking as NZR deals with the fallout of COVID-19.
Rugby Australia are bracing for ‘significant cuts’ after reporting a $9.4m loss.
A return to Super Rugby is all but off the table at this point, as are the chances that the All Blacks home July internationals against Wales and Scotland go ahead.
New Zealand’s rugby talent pool now faces the very real possibility of no competition for the foreseeable future. As a result, pay cuts were inevitable and are a requirement for NZR to stay above water in these deeply uncertain times.
The financial outlook at NZR was already difficult prior to this global health pandemic and the sport itself was very much on moving ground.
With the disconnect between the grassroots and professional game being larger than ever, plans were already in place to shift provincial unions toward a more administrative role, with a key eye toward increasing participation numbers rather than having a primary focus on producing strong sides for the NPC which begins around August.
Just as fans were getting their heads around that, club rugby was also swiftly taken off the table as COVID-19 gained more and more traction in New Zealand.
For NZR, once COVID-19 is over, their big play will be getting some form of top-level rugby going again quickly.
But what does that actually look like? It’s safe to say that nobody really knows at this point and any scenario will be dependent on a number of factors but is ultimately dependent on when New Zealand comes out of a national lockdown.
If restrictions are lifted by mid-April, chances of something happening on the rugby front will increase, but if the lockdown goes beyond its initial four-week period, chances of anything will rapidly diminish.
For the first time since 1916, a New Zealand provincial competition will be cancelled as NZR battle with finances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.https://t.co/126VUCOZ5p
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2020
From a logistical perspective alone, this is no easy fix at all, regardless of a national lockdown or not. From a financial perspective, all parties want rugby getting back underway as soon as possible, not the least of which is the players.
Whether that’s an altered domestic Super Rugby competition between the five franchises or an All Blacks test series against countries from close by, it’s hard to see NZR putting much of a direct focus being put on any rugby that sits under that, i.e. provincial and club rugby.
Herein lies another opportunity for NZR, but it would be a gutsy one to even consider and would cause a logistical nightmare.
If it were to come to fruition, for the first time in a long time, provincial rugby could end up being the premier platform for the sport on these shores in 2020, at least as aside to the All Blacks.
There has already been some suggestion that Mitre 10 Cup could start earlier. What are the odds that Mitre 10 Cup could be played as a build-up to whatever international series/matches the All Blacks play toward the latter end of the year?
Fans would rejoice with more All Blacks being involved in provincial rugby and it would be of huge benefit to the communities some of the provincial unions serve.
If the Mitre 10 Cup is to be the first taste of the sport in the aftermath of COVID-19, imagine the spike in interest levels for a competition that has recently seemed almost forgotten by many at NZR.
Usually played around the same time as the Rugby Championship where so much of the focus is on the All Blacks, the passion of the grassroots game isn’t lost, just the attention.
In 2019, Mitre 10 Cup had barely got going before the majority of the nation turned its attention toward the Rugby World Cup in Japan. By the time the World Cup was over, so too was Mitre 10 Cup. That was the last real attention anyone gave to rugby prior to the New Year when franchises were gearing up for Super Rugby again and now, a few months later, here we are in the midst of no rugby whatsoever thanks to a global pandemic.
That lack of mainstream attention could rapidly turn around if NZR were to say no to Super Rugby coming back in 2020 and instead focus on getting the country’s top players back playing in their provincial strips.
Of course, this is all speculation because what else can rugby fans do at this point?
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments