What's happening about fire-hit New World Victoria Park?
Ian Jones gives his take on the final game against the French over the weekend.
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1News
12 hours ago
- 1News
Former All Black joins Wallabies coaching ranks
Former All Black lock Tom Donnelly has joined the Wallabies coaching staff ahead of the Rugby Championship. Donnelly replaces outgoing assistant coach Geoff Parling, who will return to the UK after next week's third and final Test against the British & Irish Lions. He played 15 Tests for the All Blacks, close to 100 Super Rugby matches, and three seasons in France before he moved into coaching. The 43-year-old was with the Western Force for the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season and was previously an assistant coach at the Highlanders. Donnelly said he was honoured to have the opportunity to contribute to the Australian national side. ADVERTISEMENT "Watching from afar, the journey the team is on and the improvement they are making is exciting. I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and doing my part to continue the ongoing growth of the team." Rugby Australia high performance director Peter Horne said Donnelly's expertise around the lineout and set piece would be "highly valuable" for the Wallabies. "He's got a great understanding of the current Super Rugby Pacific landscape as well as experience playing at the highest level which makes him a great fit for the role."
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
NZ Rugby faces tough search for CEO to lead both pro and amateur sides
They will need knowledge of media rights negotiations, an understanding of digital content and its pathway to monetisation, and they will have to be capable of managing relationships with some of the world's largest consumer brands. But this is only part of the job, not all of it. There's another side entirely, which is presiding over the community game – selling rugby to the masses. That's an ambassadorial job – running a never-ending PR campaign to promote the holistic benefits of playing rugby: the resilience it breeds, the networks it forges, the joy it brings. It's also, though, a political tightrope that constantly must be walked, managing provincial unions and other stakeholders to ensure there is harmony in the ecosystem. Departing New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson. Photo / Photosport It's a job that requires someone to be as comfortable in gumboots on a muddy sideline as they are in leather loafers around the board table. The search will likely begin in a few weeks, once a global recruitment agency has been approved to conduct it, and NZR chair David Kirk has given prospective candidates clear guidance that this is a job that will straddle both the professional and amateur worlds of rugby. 'There will be a lot of people who would love to run a global sporting brand – the All Blacks' global sporting brand,' he says. 'But they are not coming just to do that. It is way more than that because you have the community element to it. 'They are coming to run New Zealand community rugby. People with only a professional sporting background coming thinking they are running a professional sport will not be appropriate.' Kirk is cognitive that, arguably, he's one of the few people who has the relevant experience across the variety of disciplines the job will entail, but laughed off any suggestion that as the chair of the board, he's in the wrong role. He's not at the right stage in his life to be a full-time executive – so if not him, is there anyone with a similar breadth of experience that presents as an obvious candidate? There are a few who have potential – people who tick a few but not all the boxes. Former All Black Conrad Smith has a deep understanding of the high-performance landscape, having won two World Cups and working for the International Rugby Players' Association, while he also volunteers as a grassroots referee in Taranaki. As a qualified lawyer, he's bright, engaging and worldly, but he doesn't have experience in the corporate world managing or leading a complex organisation. New Zealand All Blacks centre Conrad Smith in action at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs Former ACC chief executive Scott Pickering was on the shortlist to take the NZR job back in 2019 but lost out to incumbent Mark Robinson. He's an experienced director/executive, but isn't steeped in community rugby, although he is currently on the board of Bowls New Zealand. One New Zealand chief executive Jason Paris has the corporate experience – he was also the chief executive of TV3 – but while he's a self-declared passionate sports and rugby follower, there's a question mark about how attuned he'd be to what is really going on at the community level. Former Sky chief executive Martin Stewart negotiated the current broadcast deal for the pay TV broadcaster and has worked in executive roles for the Football Association in England. But would he want to return to living in New Zealand having left the country in early 2021? And the issue of living in New Zealand, and knowing the country's relationship with rugby and the All Blacks is a critical part of the consideration. The All Blacks are a global sporting brand with a uniquely Kiwi ethos, and the 'gosh, I was just lucky out there' understated charm of Beauden Barrett is a million miles away from the trash-talking, hype-it-up narratives and characters that dominate American sports and indeed football. A non-Kiwi may battle to get their head around the All Blacks culture and hiring a New Zealander who has been working overseas is fraught with challenges, as evidenced by the fact Craig Fenton, who had been in Europe for 20 years, only lasted 11 months in his role as head of New Zealand Rugby Commercial. It is, therefore, going to be an incredibly difficult role to fill, which is why Kirk says that it may be that the board takes a broader view, and that it might look at balancing the impending appointments of the chief executive, chief commercial officer and chief financial officer, This could ensure the executive team has all the required skill-sets and experiences, rather than trying to find a unicorn. 'We will probably go to one search consultant for all three roles, but the CEO will be the leading search,' he says. 'But we will also run the CFO and CCO a bit behind because ideally we will have identified the CEO and they will be in a situation where they will be able to take part in the process for the appointment of the CFO and CCO. 'We are looking to balance the requirements across the three roles and it may not be possible to find one person who can do it all. 'There are not many people who have had that broad experience that is just a fact so we have to make sure we have a balanced senior leadership team that can meet all requirements.' Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand's most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
The puck stops here
Lydia Hortop-Blair in action for the Dunedin Thunder. PHOTO: KEAPHOTOS Four teams, three medals, two finals, one big winner. Dunedin will be abuzz with ice hockey fever again as the New Zealand women's ice hockey league finals series skates into town this weekend. It will be a big couple of days at the Dunedin Ice Stadium with all four teams in the hunt for the Goulding Cup. After the national women's league had a revamp this year, the competition was extended from six round robin games to 12 - but it all comes down to this weekend. The Auckland Steel are hunting for a three-peat after being back-to-back champions. They head into the final series as the top seed, finishing the regular season with seven wins for 23 points. Wakatipu Wild have been hot on their heels all season, wrapping up as second seed with seven wins for 22 points. Canterbury Inferno are third with four wins for 18 points and Dunedin Thunder fourth with three wins for nine points. But finals are a different beast, where anything can happen and fans in Dunedin - which hosted the men's and women's division 2, group B world championships earlier this year - will be out in force to help get the Thunder over the line. Auckland will meet Dunedin in the first semifinal tomorrow afternoon, followed by Wakatipu coming up against Canterbury. The winners of the semifinals advance to the gold medal final scheduled for Sunday night, while the losers will meet in the bronze medal playoff on Sunday afternoon. Wakatipu Wild's Kellye Nelson is having another brilliant season and leads from the front for the Queenstown side. She leads the league with 12 goals and 13 assists, but Auckland Steel's Anjali Mulari has been close behind with 11 goals. French import Lea Mullender has made her mark with the Dunedin Thunder and leads them with seven goals. The puck drops for the first semifinal at 4pm tomorrow.
