New Zealand Rugby chief executive hunt shifts to targeted corporate leaders – Gregor Paul

That process identified a shortlist that the Herald believes included, among others, former New Zealand Cricket CEO David White and current Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison, both of whom were interviewed in late October.

Having seen these names leak out to the Herald, NZR’s board is understood to have reviewed and tightened its information flow around the process, hence it’s not known why, having reached a shortlist interview stage, no job offer was made.

There has been some talk in New Zealand’s sports-business executive circles that Harrison was the preferred candidate but withdrew from the process.

But, ultimately, it would seem that the board was not convinced that a six-month global trawl had unearthed the right person.

It’s a job with a vast scope of responsibilities that range from negotiating multi-million dollar broadcast deals, working with equity partner Silver Lake, balancing the books in an organisation that will soon be turning over in excess of $300 million, maintaining relationships with major corporate (All Blacks) sponsors, other international executives and administrative bodies while being across all the happenings within the domestic game down to junior club level.

Not only are the demands of the role significant and varied, but so too is there a need for the incoming chief executive to bring an element of stability and confidence to an organisation that has endured upheaval and disruption in the last five years.

NZR has made heavy financial losses in the last three years ($80m+), but it also endured a turbulent 2024 when some provincial unions fought against a proposed constitutional change to the national body’s governance, and has also suffered a high turnover of senior staff, with not only the CFO and CCO positions currently vacant, but the head of high performance and All Blacks coach roles are also now vacant.

Given the importance of finding the right person and the ineffectiveness of the process to date, it is understood that the board is now directly targeting a handful of candidates they believe could be right for the role but, for whatever reason, did not previously apply.

Again, it’s not known who has been identified, but the Herald believes that the board is certain that there are strong, well-equipped leaders currently working in New Zealand who have the appropriate corporate experience in large organisations with divergent stakeholders, while also having the relevant interest, knowledge and love of rugby to be comfortable overseeing the community game.

Having promoted community rugby manager Steve Lancaster to interim CEO in late October, the board is understood to have total confidence in his abilities to man the fort and enable the recruitment process for his replacement to not be rushed.

It’s probable that NZR may be looking at someone older, a figure who has perhaps achieved all they want to in corporate life and who has banked enough money to be comfortable with the estimated $800,000-$1 million salary on offer.

Essentially, they are after someone who would want the job for the opportunity it presents to drive the country’s highest profile sport and be an integral figure in the country’s social fabric.

With that brief in mind, people who might fit the bill include recently stood-down Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran and Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell.

Other names that would tick many boxes include One NZ (formerly Vodafone) chief executive Jason Paris, Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney, Rob Fyfe – another former Air New Zealand CEO who also sat on the recently disbanded board of New Zealand Rugby Commercial – and Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.

No doubt there will be other names on NZR’s hit-list, and the recruitment approach will likely now be more considered and intimate, with possible candidates approached – wined and dined – by board members and other leading rugby figures to see if they can be persuaded to come on board.

Now that the union has kissed a number of frogs, none of whom have turned into a prince, there are two schools of thought emerging about what this elongated process says about the perception and reputation of the national body and what it means for the national game, and by extension, how likely it is that the right CEO will soon be announced.

There will be some who interpret the unfilled vacancy as evidence that high-quality executives with the right experience and skillset don’t have faith in the institution and therefore haven’t come forward.

Shortly after former NZR chief executive Mark Robinson resigned, chairman David Kirk told the Herald, in July last year: “We will probably go to one search consultant for all three [executive posts] but the CEO will be the leading search.

“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.

“There will be a lot of people who would love to run a global sporting brand. But it [the CEO job] is way more than that because you have the community element to it. They are not coming just to do that.

“They are coming to run the New Zealand rugby community. People with only a pro sporting background coming thinking they are running a professional sport will not be appropriate.

“We are looking to balance the requirements the three roles and it may not be possible to find one person who can do it all.”

But the other school of thought is that this is yet another example of strong and decisive leadership from Kirk and his board, who have not been prepared to sell the union short by appointing a candidate they didn’t fully believe in.

The fact that a CFO and CCO are understood to be in place – just not yet announced – suggests that the difficulty in finding a CEO relates more to the enormity of the job description and the scarcity of people who can fulfil it than it does any reputational issue with the organisation.

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.