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NZ Rugby World column,
September 2005
New Zealand's greatest gift to global rugby is the
expertise we provide in every facet of the game. Administrators, referees,
coaches, fitness experts and players are all plying their trade globally
from China to Japan, from Russia to Bosnia, from the US to France and the
UK.
As well as lifting standards throughout the world they are bringing back
to New Zealand new experiences, new techniques and new knowledge. They
also help their own adopted teams / countries become more
competitive.
Wales have been a major beneficiary of Kiwi talent with Graham Henry
winning ten in a row and Steve Hansen turning the Forwards into a
cohesive, attacking unit with many behind the scenes, back-room boys
helping lift fitness levels to all time highs. One other unsung New
Zealand rugby man has also made an enormous difference over there.
Back in 1995 we were facing the biggest single threat
the world of rugby has ever known. The Packer professional circus seemed
unstoppable and it looked as though this could be the end of the All
Blacks, the end of New Zealand rugby supremacy and the end of competitive
domestic rugby. All key players and coaches would be rostered into global
franchises based in the big TV markets of England, France, South Africa
and Australia.
A pro-active NZRFU, passionate leadership from Laurie Mains and Sean
Fitzpatrick, strong actions from Jeff Wilson and Josh Kronfeld, and a
cohesive strategic and negotiating effort led to a new solution.
Professional rugby funded largely by Rupert Murdoch and Sky with a US $550
million multi year SANZAR deal, saved our bacon and took the game to the
next level.
As head of Steinlager, the NZRFU's primary sponsor, I was closely involved
in these negotiations and was honoured to become an independent Board
Member on the newly constituted eight man Board to take us into the
professional era. Much debate was had over where the leverage would be;
would the power be with the venues, the teams / franchises, the brands or
the players? In New Zealand we took the view that it would be all about
the players and we moved to central contracts for the players and coaches.
Ten years on this has proven to be the best decision made by any Union in
the world and has avoided all the pressures we're seeing elsewhere between
conflicting club and country agendas. New Zealand blazed the way into
professionalism, steered by sympathetic Chairmen Richie Guy and Rob
Fisher, backed by a streamlined governance system of eight committed,
passionate rugby leaders and businessmen.
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As we moved in to this new professional era, job number one was to seek out
a visionary, tough-minded, principled Chief Executive. There were many
applications for what was one of the most exciting jobs in sport
internationally. Our preferred candidate was a Kenyan born, expatriate Pom /
Aussie from the waste disposal business who had turned New South Wales rugby
around from a $6 million overdraft in 1992 to break even in 1995. He'd taken
the Waratahs from Concorde Oval to Sydney Football Stadium and was a
passionate All Blacks supporter. Enter David Moffett who led the NZRFU into
the professional game and helped secure its financial future.
As chairman of the marketing and commercial committee I
worked closely with then NZRFU Chairman Rob Fisher and David to partner with
Nike, adidas or Canterbury to help build a platform for New Zealand's
sustained success in professional rugby. The negotiations were complex and
read like a film script. At one stage Nike had the deal in their pockets,
but required rather too many commitments from the All Blacks in number of
games to be played.
At the last minute we flew to the adidas headquarters in Germany and in one
day's meetings with Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the majority owner and Chief
Executive, signed a letter of understanding for what was then the second
biggest deal in global team sports history. The only bigger deal was Nike's
sponsorship of the Brazilian national soccer team.
This deal was ratified by the NZRFU Board and the dream partnership between
adidas and New Zealand Rugby began. Adidas have always been sensitive to the
values of the All Blacks and have proven to be a brilliant partner. The
initial deal was for five years with a two year option to extend which was
actioned. The current New Zealand Rugby Union management team successfully
renegotiated the deal, once again safeguarding the future of New Zealand
Rugby and its development on the world stage.
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David led an effort to upgrade our competitions and to make sure that
rugby remained a game for all New Zealanders. As one of the business's
great change agents, David was ready for a new challenge four years later
and was picked off by Rupert Murdoch to try to fix Rugby League in
Australia. He stabilised and united the game after the Super League wars
and did a lot to repair the PR disaster that the game had become. During
his time there he was headhunted by the English Football Association and
got down to a short-list of the last two. Ultimately losing out to a
Scotsman, Adam Crozier, who famously committed to Wembley Stadium and
signed Sven-Goran Eriksson as English Coach. Whilst avoiding the wiles of
Faria Alam, David instead chose to stick with rugby and took on Mission
Impossible. Returning Wales to the glory days of the 1970's.
'Moffo' was appointed Group CEO to the Welsh Rugby
Union and the Millennium Stadium and inherited a £72 million debt load.
The Welsh were drip-feeding interest payments and had made no impact on
the principal. He negotiated all the debt into one package with the banks
and over the past two years has reduced that down to £45 million and
restructured it into a 35 year mortgage type deal. The operating overdraft
of £10.5 million has been cut to zero and the £3.5 million loss two
years ago has been turned into a £4 million profit in 2005. Financially
once again he's delivered incredible results.
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Simultaneously he has restructured the game from a hopeless mish-mash of
financial disaster into four regional, strong clubs who are financially
viable and effective on the field. Originally he proposed the nine pro
clubs combining to make three in South Wales with the addition of a new
franchise in the populous, wealthy North Wales. The Board however took the
soft option (in business the soft option is usually the wrong option) and
moved to five in the South and none in the North. This has since dropped
to four in the South, the Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff Blues and Newport
Gwent Dragons.
Coaching and training has become professional and for the first time in 27
years, Wales won the Grand Slam last year. Unheralded Coach Mike Ruddock
was David's favourite for the role and he achieved enormously last year,
building on the legacy from Henry and Hansen and playing a game of pace
and power not unlike the All Blacks.
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Moffo and partner Kerry just spent a few days with us in St Tropez and it
was difficult to penetrate everything he has lined up for the All Blacks
on November 5.
The Millennium Stadium is already sold out with a record 74,500
spectators assured. The game will celebrate 100 years of Test Rugby
between the two nations since that slow-moving referee disallowed Deans'
try from a distance of 20 metres. Oh, for video replays.
Originally we had asked to play the game during the first week of December
when the All Blacks would have built up some momentum against Scotland and
Ireland. Moffo manufactured some fabrication (an imaginary rock concert I
believe) for why this couldn't take place so instead we meet them on
November 5 in our first Tour Test Match. Given the last two games against
the Welsh and the fact that they haven't beaten us since 1953, there is no
doubt that Moffett has won round one and has put one very large, slippery
banana skin in front of us.
The Welsh team and spectators will respect the haka and then respond in
kind. A Welsh opera singer will be appearing under the goal-posts dressed
in the Welsh flag and lead 74,000+ people in "Bread of Heaven".
That'll get the juices flowing. Emotion can take you through the first 15
minutes, then it's down to skill, preparation and desire. The Welsh will
have all three. So will we.
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One further indication of Moffo's wily thinking and his desire to win. He
managed to convince himself, his sponsors Reebok, and the players that it
would give the Welsh an edge if they could play in black and the All
Blacks had to switch to white. He was busy fabricating reasons why the
Welsh should play in black (it is actually their second choice strip) and
trying to find evidence that they had played against the All Blacks before
in black. I am not sure any was forthcoming and the wise old heads on the
Board felt it would be difficult to justify this move and might result in
doing nothing more than having the Alastair Campbell effect on the All
Blacks. I think they're right, but at the same time you have to admire
Moffo's out of the box thinking designed to add any tiny edges he can to
what will be a great rugby day.
Despite all this red shirt and dragon nonsense, Moffo's enduring love is
the All Blacks and New Zealand. I think he'll probably come back to New
Zealand once he's fully executed a turn around in Wales and I think it
would be great for our economy to see this successful, performance driven,
results oriented Chief Executive back in the frame. Not necessarily in
sports; I'd rather see him running something in the public sector or the
private sector where the nation could benefit from his change management,
his competitiveness and his track record. But in the meantime … November
5 beckons when (hopefully) the best of the Tri Nations meets the best of
the Six Nations for 80 minutes of running rugby.
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