spinofflive
The Black Ferns (Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The Black Ferns (Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

SportsMay 14, 2020

Rugby Unwrapped: What rugby can learn from its rival codes (WATCH)

The Black Ferns (Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The Black Ferns (Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

In the second part of our series looking at the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson and a panel of insiders look to the future of the sport, and ask what can be done to make that future more secure.

This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. 

Find the other episodes in the series here.

Rugby used to be a simple game. Then it turned professional, and as we all know, money changes everything. To the uninitiated, it sometimes feels like you need a double degree in business studies and advanced geopolitics just to follow the conversation about the world rugby landscape and the influence New Zealand holds in it these days.

That’s not the case here. The second instalment of Rugby Unwrapped offers an illuminating and wide-ranging discussion that looks to the future of the game and asks how New Zealand can thrive in it. In this episode, host Scotty Stevenson is joined by a trio of rugby insiders: Halo Sport CEO Simon Porter, NZR board member and representative to World Rugby’s executive committee Bart Campbell, and former Black Fern and current TVNZ general manager for sport and events Melodie Robinson.

Through a crystal ball clouded by the uncertainty of Covid-19, the panel discuss the ongoing effectiveness of Sanzaar as a governing body and what it can do to help other Southern Hemisphere rugby nations. They ask what lessons rugby can learn from other codes – from the hype machine of the NRL to the tribal loyalty inspired by the AFL – and other ways clubs can convince people to leave the house for a game-day experience (because face painting, pies and chips no longer cut it). And then there’s the perennial issue of a global calendar to kick around…

This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. 

Keep going!
Episode one of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson
Episode one of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson

SportsMay 11, 2020

All Black halfback says professional players should be playing club rugby too

Episode one of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson
Episode one of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson

All Black and Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara says professional players should have more opportunities to play at club level, in The Spinoff’s new video series Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson.

The future of professional sports is in a precarious position. With international and national games and competitions off the table for the time being, organisations like New Zealand Rugby are figuring out just how the game should look moving forward. 

The subject is explored in-depth in episode one of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson, where guest TJ Perenara argues that giving professional players the opportunity to engage with club rugby would be good for the game at all levels.

“It’s not a financial injection but it’s investing back into the game by just us being there. You might not play 80 minutes three times a year for Norths, but we might get 20 or 30 minutes in one game a year, which I think is a lot more beneficial than standing up on TV once a year and mentioning Norths in an interview,” says Perenara, a current All Black and Hurricanes halfback.

To ensure a vibrant game in the future, professional players may need to make some sacrifices now, he says.

“The time we’re at now it’s a critical time and I think we will be judged on this in the future, people will look back at this time and be like ‘how did the players react here, how did the whole organisation react here and what did we do to get our game into a position to be better and to come out of this pandemic in a better place?’ For us as players it’s about being open to different conversations, it’s about being open to different sacrifices.

“I might be retired by the time it comes back around but that’s OK, because it’s not about me getting more out of this situation, it’s about the game getting more out of the situation so that it can flourish for more years to come.”

Watch the first episode of Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson below.

This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here.
But wait there's more!