RESCUING RUGBY
New Zealand Rugby has the money. Now it has to ensure it still has friends to play with.
While South Africa, New Zealand’s most treasured rival, will remain locked in to Sanzaar until 2025, it continues to make loud noises about joining the Six Nations and unless it finds a way to do both, that would leave the All Blacks staring at a Rugby Championship diet heavy on Wallaby, and probably including Puma with a garnish of Brave Blossoms on the side.
It’s a meal unlikely to satisfy fans and one that could compromise the All Blacks not so much financially but leave them underdone from a high-performance standpoint when it comes to northern tours, World Cups and the proposed Nations Cup.
Former All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen was adamant the key to the All Blacks continued success was regular matches against South Africans, at Super
