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‘Fried’ NZ boat ruled out of Sail GP regatta

Duncan Johnstone

A ‘‘fried’’ New Zealand SailGP boat is being rushed back to Auckland for urgent repairs and has been ruled out of the next regatta in Sydney.

The red-hot Kiwis will have to use a loan boat for the Australian league of the global league after investigations revealed the extensive damage from the lightning strike to their F50 Amokura following the recent regatta win in Singapore.

While the league is contested in onedesign 50-foot foiling catamarans, the loss of the familiarity with their own boat is an unwanted nuisance for the Kiwi team led by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke as they look to consolidate their second placing on the points table and the need to make the top three for the season-ending US$1 million winner-takesall race in San Francisco.

There are just three regattas left – Sydney in three weeks, Christchurch’s debut on March 18-19 on Lyttelton Harbour and in San Francisco on May 7-8.

‘‘Since [the strike] we’ve realised that the damage to Amokura is pretty significant. Quite quickly we discovered that all of the electronics on board were fried,’’ wing trimmer Tuke said.

‘‘On a personal level, I have a good relationship with him [Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan]. I think he respects me. He is probably more inclined to use the media than we are, or I am, but that’s his style.’’

There was an important question, one of many, NZ Rugby chair Stewart Mitchell needed to be asked prior to his departure on January 31.

Here it is: what reception did Mitchell get from rugby supporters in his home town of Christchurch when Crusaders coach Scott Robertson went so close, but ultimately failed, to securing the job as All Blacks coach? Not once, either. But twice.

On the first occasion Robertson was beaten by Ian Foster when they were both interviewed for the position after the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Although Mitchell wasn’t the chair during the first showdown, he was still an established member of the NZ Rugby board.

The second time, however, Mitchell was at the head of the board as Robertson and Foster duelled for the job last winter, albeit in shadowy circumstances.

The scene for that fascinating drama was set when the All Blacks suffered a historic 2-1 series defeat to Ireland in New Zealand, followed by a loss to the Springboks in Mbombela, South Africa.

With the World Cup in France just over a year away, NZ Rugby had good reason to be concerned about the All Blacks’ results under Foster, and Robertson was put on standby to replace him when the team returned home after the second test against the Springboks in Johannesburg in August.

We all know what happened next: the All Blacks put an end to their three-match losing streak by stunning the Springboks 35-23 at Ellis Park and Foster, with senior players publicly and privately lobbying the game’s power brokers, kept his job when the Mitchell-led board unanimously voted to retain him.

Robertson was, again, left in the cold. So, back to that question.

Does Mitchell, a former New Zealand Colts forward who still catches up for regular cycle rides with his old team-mates from the Shirley rugby club in Christchurch, cop it from Cantabrians about NZ Rugby’s decision to not give Robertson the All Blacks job?

‘‘Not from the rugby public that I don’t know, but certainly from some rugby mates I get a little bit of gyp from time to time,’’ Mitchell says.

‘‘He [Foster] is a very experienced coach with a lot of history. And I think he has got a good [coaching] team with him at the moment.’’

Forced into survival-mode, Foster had ditched assistants John Plumtree and Brad Mooar following the Ireland series, and after the win in Johannesburg told NZ Rugby he was going to promote Joe Schmidt from selector/analyst to backs coach, having earlier locked in Jason Ryan, who worked under Robertson at the Crusaders, as his forwards coach.

If you lived in Canterbury and spoke to key members of the rugby community (not Robertson, who went underground during the saga) you would have bet your KiwiSaver account that Robertson would replace Foster.

Schmidt, who didn’t travel with the All Blacks to South Africa, was sighted in Christchurch during that period and it’s understood he met with Robertson.

It’s also understood that top NZ Rugby administrators told Robertson to get ready to be the next All Blacks coach, and although nothing was put in writing, he was asked to prepare his coaching staff for the rest of the Rugby Championship.

Yet, when it came to the crunch, the NZ Rugby board, which had made the bold call in 2021 to renew his contract through to the World Cup, chose not to rip up Foster’s contract.

That’s not to say the duel between Robertson and Foster – the latter’s contract expires at the end of the year – is finished. That’s because NZ Rugby has yet to decide whether it should break with tradition and interview applicants for the All Blacks job beyond 2023 before the World Cup, instead of after it.

Robertson has confirmed he’s still keen to coach the All Blacks, but Foster has yet to comment if he wants to continue after the global tournament in France.

Not that it will be Mitchell’s problem. The next board meeting won’t be held until next month, and he will be gone. His replacement, Dame Patsy Reddy, will be chair.

But Mitchell will say this. He’s adamant Foster is the best man to coach the All Blacks.

‘‘Look, that was a challenging period

Stewart Mitchell Outgoing NZ Rugby chair

and at the end of the day the right decision was made,’’ Mitchell states.

‘‘What happens beyond then is front of mind, and currently being discussed internally, but I won’t be part of that decision.’’

What about Robertson, then? Good enough to win titles each year he has been in charge of the Crusaders, since 2017, he has every right to be frustrated.

To expect him to apply for a third time, and potentially be rebuffed, would be intolerable cruelty for someone who has given so much to the domestic scene, and developed so many promising players into All Blacks.

Mitchell is adamant Robertson can still trust NZ Rugby, despite the shenanigans that took place last year.

‘‘Absolutely. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. Whatever the process, and whoever is the coach of the All Blacks, will always have the full support of the board and the management team.

‘‘Having said that, if things turn particularly bad, things are always up for review.

‘‘He [Robertson] is a highly successful coach. I was the chair of Canterbury [in 2012] when we appointed him to the Canterbury [head coach’s] job. His time will come, I am sure.’’

When Mitchell, an accountant who has worked as a consultant for more than three decades, took over from Brent Impey he projected as a bloke who wanted to get things done.

There was plenty to do as NZ Rugby continued to grapple with the carnage created by the pandemic.

Getting the deal with US equity firm Silver Lake done, which involved tense negotiations with the NZ Rugby Players’ Association, and breaking bread with Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan, the man who recently played a key role in orchestrating the downfall of Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, were on the to-do list.

Let’s start with McLennan, who had in the past poked the borax at Impey.

How did Mitchell get on with the man who didn’t hesitate to lambast NZ Rugby when he felt the need, and threatened to withdraw the Australian teams from Super Rugby, before both parties signed a deal to commit to the competition through to 2030?

Not too bad, it so happens. ‘‘Hamish and I get on well,’’ Mitchell stated. ‘‘I think, initially, we stood back from each other a little bit, but we have dealt with each other over the last couple of years and the two boards had a dinner around the Auckland test [last year], which I thought was a great occasion.

‘‘And I connect with him as I need to. On a personal level, I have a good relationship with him. I think he respects me. He is probably more inclined to use the media than we are, or I am, but that’s his style.

‘‘They have a big few years ahead of them with the [British and Irish] Lions tour and the World Cups.’’

When Mitchell replaced Impey in 2021 he was adamant the Silver Lake proposal should go ahead, but without the approval of the Players’ Association it was toast.

Working with Players’ Association chief executive Rob Nichol and chair David Kirk was vital if the deal was to go ahead. The groundbreaking deal was given the green light last June.

Do the players have too much power? Mitchell was diplomatic.

‘‘They are an integral part of our business, and a strong voice. We are meant to work closely with them, and over the past 12 months I have reached out to David Kirk and Rob Nichol and developed relationships with them that have helped us get to where we are.

‘‘We just need to work together in the future, they are a big part of the brand. If you follow American sport, the personalisation, rather than the team brand, in pretty prominent.’’

Mitchell wanted to ensure the board worked cohesively and create a plan to ensure his successor, Reddy, the first female chair of NZ Rugby, will have a smooth transition into the role as chair.

Rather than wait until the annual meeting in April, Mitchell, who is required to stand down after serving nine years, said he wanted to exit earlier to ensure Reddy’s promotion was as seamless as possible.

She had best be prepared for the scrutiny that comes with being in such a highprofile role.

Mitchell notes that last year was hectic, but rewarding. The Silver Lake deal was inked, the Black Ferns won the World Cup, the All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup and won the Rugby Championship, and a governance review of the board is under way.

‘‘It [the role as chair] is pretty intense,’’ Mitchell admits. ‘‘It can be relentless and you have to have a thick skin. I look back at the last couple of years, and they have been challenging times; it has been an honour and a privilege.

‘‘I think we have had some significant successes, really. Coming out of Covid, we didn’t know what games we could get up, what our media revenues were going to be, and we had to offload a lot of staff.

‘‘But we have come through that.’’

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2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

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