New Zealand rugby needs to change, says chairman

New Zealand rugby needs to change, says chairman
AFP - April 23, 2008, 1:02 pm

WELLINGTON (AFP) - New Zealand rugby union chairman Jock Hobbs said on Wednesday that the running of the game in the country needs to change to meet the high expectations of fans.

As the New Zealand union's annual meeting revealed a financial loss of 1.7 million dollars (1.35 million US), Hobbs said the quarter-final loss to France at last year's World Cup had cast a long shadow.

"The New Zealand Rugby Union failed to fulfil the hopes and expectations of so many of our stakeholders and supporters," Hobbs told the meeting in Wellington.

"For an organisation -- and a country -- that sets its standards and expectations very high, the loss was incredibly difficult to accept," he said.

"We need to change if we are to meet the needs and expectations of rugby fans, players and officials at all levels."

He also referred to an independent report released last week into the World Cup failure, which criticised several aspects of the All Blacks preparation and performance in the tournament, which ended with the 20-18 loss to France.

"As we know now -- and as the independent review has clearly pointed out -- some of those decisions were wrong," Hobbs said.

Among the policies singled out for criticism in the review was the decision to take 22 leading players out of the first half of last year's Super 14 competition for fitness and conditioning work ahead of the World Cup.

The financial loss for 2007 was almost entirely caused by foreign exchange losses due to the high value of the New Zealand dollar against the US currency, union chief executive Steve Tew said.

The loss, which compared with a 4.8 million dollar shortfall in 2006, would have been six million dollars worse if the union had not taken out a hedging contract, he said.

The loss was smaller than expected and some media reports ahead of the announcement had speculated about a possible loss as high as 10 million dollars.