The age of dominance is all but over for New Zealand rugby

If winning starts in the front office, it’s little wonder rugby in this country is facing some challenges.

The All Blacks are, well, the All Blacks. Brilliant one minute, dismal the next. Operating like a club team a lot of the time, where an exalted few appear as though they can play for as long as they like, immune to Father Time or the selector’s axe.

The Black Ferns seem a shadow of the team that won the last Rugby World Cup, our secondary schools’ team just got tipped over by Australia and now Taranaki coach Neil Barnes has teed off on New Zealand Rugby (NZR).

Rather than exalt at winning the Ranfurly Shield over the weekend, Barnes – in an interview on The Platform – highlighted the plight of the beaten Tasman side.

He said the scheduling of the NPC season was unfair and nonsensical and accused NZR of disregarding the unions and competition that breeds players for the top of the pyramid.

There’s rests aplenty for players at All Black level, Barnes said, but no such luxury for a team such as Tasman who played three NPC games in eight days, including two shield defences.

Little wonder, added Barnes, Tasman couldn’t contend with Taranaki on Sunday.

The so-called ‘storm’ weeks are nothing new, but it was out of character to hear a winning coach take a moment of triumph as an opportunity to criticise the governing body.

Said governing body seems – even by its standards – in a bit of disarray at the moment.

NZR chair Patsy Reddy has rightly confirmed she will not stand for re-election, having previously stated her position would be untenable should the governance structure she backed at a meeting of delegates in May be defeated.

The provinces spoke loudly back then too, voting against the proposal promoted by the NZR board and management.

Board positions, beyond Reddy’s, are now being advertised, as are any number of management, coaching and public relations roles at NZR.

Yes, if you ever wanted a job where one of the perks was tickets to matches, there’s plenty on offer at NZR at the moment.

I don’t know about you, but I look at the performances of our teams and the comings and goings at head office and I can’t help but think that the two are related.

People scoff when you blame NZR or the pathways that produce our players for the outcome of All Blacks matches, but you can’t tell me there’s no link..

Most of us are sports fans, beyond just our interest in rugby. We support teams in other codes, across various countries and have our opinions about how those franchises are run.

Invariably, the good organisations are also the ones that enjoy success on the field of play. The poorer ones lurch from crisis to crisis and upheaval to upheaval, often in the hope that the next person through the revolving door might have all the answers.

Reviews, reports, they’re all commissioned but rarely acted upon. Coaches and staff come and go, yet the outcomes rarely change.

Bad clubs and governing bodies are so deep in the mire they can’t see that they’re a big part of the problem.

I don’t say this to absolve the All Blacks and Black Ferns – or any other team under NZR’s auspices – of blame. I say it because it’s clearly a contributing factor and one we can no longer ignore.

Governance isn’t sexy. It’s not interesting to read about, it garners no Instagram followers nor bums on seats, but it’s critical to the success of teams.

Should the All Blacks become more competitive over the next few years, I suspect it’ll be in spite of the people in charge.

Just as I doubt we’ll see a return to the dominance the team previously enjoyed until there’s a recognition of where many of the issues stem from.

NZR is not in rude health, therefore the majority of our national teams and competitions aren’t either.

Genuine leadership is required now and, judging by May’s botched governance vote and Barnes’ pointed comments, it’s galling to think that leadership’s more likely to come from the provinces than NZR itself.