In early November, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson was predicting his organisation would lose about $40m in 2020.
Revenue, he said, was about 36 per cent down and despite drastic cost-cutting measures that saw almost half the governing body's workforce made redundant and heavy pay cuts imposed on players, the losses were still substantial.
There it was – the impact of Covid-19 laid out in bleak terms and reason to believe that 2020 had been an utter disaster for the professional game in this country.
But arguably that's not the truth. There is an alternative one that says the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns were a giant blessing.
Covid brought the chance to re-set and start again. New Zealand's professional rugby market wasn't out of control before the virus hit, but it was plagued by greed, self-interest and a bloated administration.
There were mad things happening: unfathomable decisions that were inflating costs, duplicating roles and building a culture of entitlement among players, to the extent that rugby's longheld, treasured place as the sport of choice for young New Zealanders was under threat.
Provincial teams were competing with Super Rugby sides for emerging talent, driving the prices up when the money was all coming out of the same pot.
Players were able to sign extended contracts that were worth almost $1m a year which also came with phenomenally generous sabbatical clauses that let them play one or even two seasons in Japan at $1.5m a time.
There had been dramatic headcount inflation which led to a 70 per cent rise in staff at New Zealand Rugby between 2015 and 2019.
Denne historien er fra Issue 208, December - January 2021-utgaven av NZ Rugby World.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 208, December - January 2021-utgaven av NZ Rugby World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The 20 Most Memorable Rugby Acts Of 2020
2020- Most Amazing Rugby Acts
RUGBY ROYALTY
FRANS STEYN’S IMPACT AT LAST YEAR’S WORLD CUP ADDED MORE PRESTIGE TO A DECORATED CAREER THAT ISN’T OVER YET. CRAIG LEWIS FROM SA RUGBY MAGAZINE REPORTS.
WINGING IT FOR LONGER
TYPICALLY POWER WINGS DON'T LAST LONG IN THE ALL BLACKS. BUT CALEB CLARKE AND RIEKO IOANE ARE HOPING TO BUCK THE TREND.
TOUGHEST JOB IN THE WORLD
NZ RUGBY WORLD EDITOR GREGOR PAUL HAS A NEW BOOK OUT CALLED THE CAPTAIN'S RUN. IN IT HE EXPLORES WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD THE WORLD'S BEST RUGBY TEAM, HOW THE JOB HAS CHANGED AND HOW THE VARIOUS LEADERS HAVE DEALT WITH PRESSURE, FAILURE AND SUCCESS.
WOW FACTOR
SCOTT ROBERTSON IS UNORTHODOX BUT HE'S ALSO BRILLIANT AND WANTS A JOB WITH THE BRITISH & IRISH LIONS.
RUGBY REBORN
COVID BROUGHT ECONOMIC CARNAGE IN 2020 BUT RATHER THAN BEING SEEN AS A WRECKER OF FORTUNES, THE PANDEMIC WAS ACTUALLY A GIANT BLESSING.
BATTLE FOR THE BLEDISLOE
THE UNPRECEDENTED CONDITIONS OF 2020 SAW THE INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR HASTILY REDRAWN AND IN A UNIQUE TWIST FOR THE PROFESSIONAL AGE, THE ALL BLACKS PLAYED FOUR CONSECUTIVE TESTS AGAINST AUSTRALIA.
PACIFIC POWER HOUSE
FIJI HAVE NEVER QUITE BEEN ABLE TO FULFIL THEIR ENORMOUS POTENTIAL. BUT THEY MIGHT NOW FOLLOWING THE APPOINTMENT OF VERN COTTER AS HEAD COACH.
THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION
ON AND OFF THE FIELD, SPRINGBOKS WING CHESLIN KOLBE CONTINUES TO MAKE AN INSPIRATIONAL IMPACT.
DEFENCE FORCE ONE
THE BLUES WERE A RADICALLY DIFFERENT TEAM IN 2020 AND MUCH OF THAT WAS DUE TO THEIR VASTLY IMPROVED WORK ON DEFENCE.