The battle of ideas on how to run rugby in New Zealand continues to heat up, with one provincial union claiming there is a lot of "misinformation" out there.
In a fiery interview with AM this morning, Wellington Rugby Chair Russell Poole hit back at the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association boss Rob Nichol over a split in ideas of how rugby should be run.
Following a review of all elements of rugby in Aotearoa, a recommendation was made for NZR to have a completely independent board - a recommendation which Nichol said has been largely accepted by all stakeholders.
However, a number of Provincial Unions (PU) have come together to suggest an alternative option for members to vote on next week.
"Proposal One" would see all the independent review panel's recommendations implemented, while the new "Proposal Two" would see PU experience included on a "skills matrix", used by recruiters when looking for board members.
Poole told AM that it would not see candidates be specifically put forward by PUs, but rather ensuring that some PU experience remains on the board.
Nichol said adopting Proposal Two would be akin to sticking with the status quo, which would not allow rugby to grow and develop.
The players' association has gone as far as threatening to split from NZR and set up a new body to control the professional game if Proposal Two is accepted.
"There is just so much misinformation out there," Poole told AM, "every single candidate that wishes to be on the New Zealand Board has to apply through an independently appointed recruitment company."
"There is no situation where the PUs put forward a candidate, any Joe Blog anywhere in the world can apply to be in the New Zealand Rugby Board."
Recruitment company Sheffield currently runs that process.
"[Candidates] go through an independent vetting process, a short-listing process through Sheffield, and then Sheffield select, without any interference of anyone else, the candidates to put forward to the appoints panel."
AM host Nicky Styris then asked if it was incorrect that three members of the board at any one time would have to have PU experience.
Poole replied that all applications would be measured against a "skills matrix", based on who was already on the board and who was applying for open positions.
"In our proposal, at any one time, of those nine directors, three must have served some time on a provincial rugby board."
Poole said there are also caveats in the skills matrix for Māori and Pasifika representation, as well as four members being women.
Styris asked if Proposal Two is about getting his buddies on the board.
Poole fired back, "how can you say that, when I've just explained to you that we have no role in the process of the selection of the members".
"But you're saying three members need to have provincial union experience?" Styris responded.
"If they don't tick the box of good governance and all the other things that are in the proposal that has been jointly written in large parts by the New Zealand Rugby Board and the Provincial Unions, then they will not get through Sheffield," Poole said, "they will not get through to the appointments panel".
After the independent review, it was agreed that rugby was not heading in the right direction.
"They put together a set of recommendations which many in the game said 'yes that makes sense', but unfortunately we've arrived at a process nine months later where rather than adopting the recommendations, we've had PUs and NZR trying to do something different."
Nichol said he's not against PUs but thinks a fully independent board is the best way forward.
"We won't have confidence in a board that is elected through proposal two, because as the independent panel has said, it is more akin to the status quo so it won't be fit for purpose, so what we are saying is that we will set up a separate body to govern the professional game because we can't afford not to be first class on and off the field".
Given the new proposal from some of the PUs, Nichol wanted to make the players' association position public - a move Poole described as an "explosive performance".
"We set up a meeting with [NZRPA] on Monday where they dropped this bombshell, and I'll ask you to ask Rob a question," Poole said to Styris on AM, "how many of his members have sat and been party to a conversation that has led to this explosive performance that has come in the middle of a constituted and democratic process?"
Nichol is confident that the mood is split among provincial unions, and that some will still vote for Proposal One when a special general meeting convenes on May 30th.
