March Club Otago Lunch: David Moffett

19/03/2018

It is not New Zealand Rugby’s job to fix the game globally and our administrators would be advised to direct their efforts towards ensuring the game here and in the Pacific Islands is better served.

Forget South Africa, Japan and Argentina … strengthen the relationship with our closest neighbours.

That was one of many views expressed by former NZRFU Chief Executive David Moffett at the year’s first Club Otago lunch.

David, who is also a former CEO of the Welsh Rugby Union and the Australian NRL (National Rugby League), enlightened the audience on just how Super Rugby came about in 1996 and the machination behind the deals done, why he believes the optimum Super competition would comprise seven New Zealand teams, four from Australia and one from the Pacific Islands, and questioned if the current batch of administrators were up to the challenges of ensuring the longevity of rugby itself.

He was also adamant the next All Black coach should be Joe Schmidt, the Kiwi who has overseen a renaissance of Irish rugby. Ireland won the Grand Slam for just the third time at the weekend and just two years ago beat the All Blacks for the first time in more than 100 years of trying – both of those feats with Schmidt in charge.

David’s address was both thought-provoking and insightful, coming from a man who has been influential in of some of the biggest sporting deals ever signed-off globally. The adidas sponsorship, sealed in late-1995, was that company’s largest ever to that point.