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SANZAAR chairman Brent Impey calls for 'fundamental changes' as he announces resignation
SANZAAR chairman Brent Impey has announced his resignation from the role as he calls for “fundamental changes” to be made leading into an uncertain future for rugby in the southern hemisphere.
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After having been the governing body’s chair for five years, Impey went public with his decision to stand down on Tuesday, with the move to come into effect on December 31.
Pointing to his concurrent position as New Zealand Rugby [NZR] chairman as a conflict of interest with his SANZAAR role as one of many reasons behind his resignation, Impey said it is time for an independent chair to take charge.
“In my view it is time for SANZAAR to make some fundamental changes which are best placed to happen under an independent chair,” he said in a statement released by NZR.
“While there was no imperative for change it was appropriate to rotate the role, however I now believe that the role of chair of a national union as well as chair of SANZAAR is a conflict for any country.”
Impey also called for SANZAAR to become “membership based” rather than persist with a “four country consensus model” is rugby in the southern hemisphere is to stand a chance in the global rugby landscape.
“I also hold the view that SANZAAR should become membership based. The four country consensus model is outdated if we are looking to grow the game commercially and internationally.
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“A membership model would allow the group to act together on issues such as the global calendar, rules, regulations, governance, and mutual commercial interests.
“Currently, the odds are heavily stacked against SANZAAR in its present form being able to affect change.”
In a statement released by SANZAAR, chief executive Andy Marinos echoed Impey’s sentiments, and confirmed that the body would convene an appointment panel with the aim of finding an independent chair.
“SANZAAR would like to sincerely thank Brent for the enthusiasm, energy and hard work he has contributed to the organisation over the last five years,” Marinos said.
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“He has been dedicated to the improvement and growth of rugby in the southern hemisphere, but it is understandable that in these uncertain times he wishes to step down as SANZAAR chair in order to steer New Zealand Rugby forward.
“SANZAAR has for some time recognised that the chair should move to an independent position to remove any conflict of interests and that best practice governance is followed.
“Exco will now form a panel to find a suitably qualified independent chair to lead the organisation.”
As Sonny Bill Williams' illustrious playing career draws to a conclusion, the cross-code star reportedly has a new gig lined up on his horizon.https://t.co/L4SHDm6cXb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 16, 2020
How SANZAAR continues to function alongside its four member unions – NZR, Rugby Australia [RA], South Africa Rugby [SA Rugby] and Union Argentina de Rugby [UAR] – remains to be seen in the midst of the Super Rugby’s overhaul.
The suspension of the competition, which had been SANZAAR’s premier club tournament since 1996, in March due to COVID-19 has forced member unions to restructure the league, which has dwindled in fan interest and competitiveness in recent years.
With travel restrictions preventing Super Rugby from resuming this year, NZR, RA and SA Rugby all formed their own domestic competitions featuring their respective franchises, with the latter two unions adding extra teams.
Both NZR and RA have announced they will retain their respective tournaments – Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU – in 2021, with teams from both competitions to face each other in a Super Rugby Trans-Tasman cross-over competition next year.
Heavy speculation suggests the two unions will join forces to create a permanent 12-team competition from 2022, with two teams from the Pacific Islands – thought to be the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika – expected to join the five franchises from New Zealand and Australia.
Officials in South Africa, meanwhile, voted in September to explore moving their four Super Rugby teams into Europe’s PRO14, a competition they have frequently been linked with and already features two ex-Super Rugby sides, the Cheetahs and Southern Kings.
However, the future of the Rugby Championship, SANZAAR’s premier test rugby competition, looks all but safe for the next decade, with SA Rugby earlier this month confirming their commitment to the tournament through until 2030.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
72 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
32 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
32 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
160 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
72 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
32 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to commentsTerrible conditions for young players to express themselves just enjoy it guys. As a saffa great to see Ausie youth looking good. Wow SA have some great talent also.
2 Go to commentsYes, another example of French tv directors ensuring that incidents like this are swiftly glossed over for the benefit of their teams…
5 Go to commentsThe prospect of the club match ups across hemispheres is surely appetising for everyone. The reality however, may prove to be slightly different. There are currently two significant driving forces that have delivered to same teams consistently to the latter champions cup stages for years now. The first of those is the yawning gap in finances, albeit delivered by different routes. In France it’s wealthy private owners operating with a higher salary cap by some distance compared to England. In Ireland it’s led by a combination of state tax relief support, private Leinster academy funding and IRFU control - the provincial budgets are not equal! This picture is not going to change anytime soon. The second factor is the EPCR competition rules. You don’t need a PhD. in advanced statistical analysis from oxbridge to see the massive advantage bestowed upon the home team through every ko round of the tournament. The SA teams will gain the opportunity for home ko ties in due course but that could actually polarise the issue even further, just look at their difficulties playing these ties in Europe and then reverse them for the opposition travelling to SA. Other than that, the picture here is unlikely to change either, with heavyweight vested interests controlling the agenda. So what does all this point to for the club world championship? Well the financial differential between the nh and sh teams is pretty clear. And the travel issues and sporting challenge for away teams are significantly exacerbated beyond those already seen in the EPCR tournaments. So while the prospect of those match ups may whet our rugby appetites, I’m very much still to be convinced the reality will live up to expectations…
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