David Moffett calls for New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson to resign – Stuff

Former New Zealand Rugby boss David Moffett has blasted the organisation and called for current chief executive Mark Robinson to resign in the wake of the messy All Blacks coaching saga.

A day after former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen launched a stinging attack on NZR and their operations, Moffett has followed up with his own tirade, in an interview with Today FM's Tova O'Brien on Friday.

Moffett, who was NZR chief executive between 1996 and 2000, and held the same role with the Welsh union from 2002 to 2005, believes Robinson should leave his post, and found it deplorable that he was swanning around in Birmingham instead of fronting media in New Zealand.

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New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson has not fronted media over the All Blacks coaching changes.

Asked if he felt Robinson, who was appointed in 2019 to replace Steve Tew, was up to the task, Moffett was blunt in his assessment.

No, I dont think so, he said.

Thats where I would disagree with Steve [Hansen]. Steve said that he thinks hell make a good CEO one day.

Well, the chief executive of New Zealand Rugby is right up there in terms of publicity and persona as the prime minister. I found in my day I used to do more media than the prime minister on some days.

We dont need a CEO to learn how to be a CEO at New Zealand Rugby. We need somebody who knows what theyre doing, and if they make mistakes, like we all do, they can just own it.

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Former New Zealand Rugby boss David Moffett has launched heavy criticism against the organisation.

Dont hide, dont blame the board if they make decisions, its him, hes the chief executive, the buck stops with him. The board sets strategy and policy, thats it, as far as Im concerned. The rest of the time the chief executive is running the place.

I feel for these guys, because Ive been there. But I never ducked the media. I always fronted, always took the flak, never made excuses. And thats what we need to see in our chief executive. Robinson needs to get back here and he needs to front the media and he needs to tell them whats gone wrong, what hes doing about it and be open, instead of hiding away up there in Birmingham. We dont want to see that in our chief executive.

Asked if he felt Robinson should resign, Moffett was equally frank.

Yes, I think he should, he said.

Because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Any rugby CEO who does not understand that rugby is too much of a business to be a sport and too much of a sport to be a business i.e. youve got to get that balance right is always going to struggle.

Moffett said Robinsons first mistake was appointing Sir Graham Henry to the panel which selected Ian Foster as the new coach, as he was going to control the process and be unable to be held to account. He noted that Henry raised concerns over Scott Robertsons prospective assistant coaches, but that those guys like Jason Ryan and Leon MacDonald were all of a sudden seen as saviours of New Zealand Rugby.

The former boss also raised big concerns over NZRs duty of care to its employees, disliking the way Robinson had allowed Foster to stand there and take all the flak, and believing sacked All Blacks assistants Brad Mooar and John Plumtree, and former Black Ferns coach Glenn Moore, could go down a legal avenue in the wake of their departures.

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Can Joe Schmidt help Ian Foster turn things around with the All Blacks?.

If I was them, I would be looking for a really good, top-notch employment lawyer, because their coaching careers have been trashed by the way in which theyve been dealt with, Moffett said.

They had a review six months ago which confirmed Foster and the coaches were right for the job, six months later things have got so bad that theyve had to make a couple of sacrificial lambs.

And if they think that anybody in New Zealand thinks that Mooar and Plumtree were responsible for where the All Blacks are today, then these guys are kidding themselves. Nobodys going to believe that.

And then Glenn Moore went through a review, he was confirmed as coach of the Black Ferns. And then a little bit later, obviously when the Twitterati got into the act, hes let go as well. Its chaotic in there at the moment.

Adding to the chaos, Moffett felt, was that NZR had refused to talk following Hansens broadside on Thursday.

Instead, in a leaked email to Stuff, it revealed they felt the best course of action was to say nothing.

Oh fair dinkum, obviously they are further out of touch with reality than even I think that they are when they do that sort of thing, Moffett said.

They said well youll only just start another round of news on any subject. Well, guess what, because Mark Robinsons swanning around over there in Birmingham and not fronting the media, it leaves a huge gap for people like me and other commentators to actually come in and say what has to be said.

And I found it incredible that he isnt back here in New Zealand, standing in front of the media and explaining his decisions, defending his decisions, but also defending his staff.

Steve was right when he said what he said, and things must be grim for Steve Hansen to come out publicly and slate New Zealand Rugby the way he did, because he doesnt normally do that.

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David Moffett calls for New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson to resign - Stuff