New Zealand Rugby\u2019s (NZR) Chair David Kirk and Acting Chief Executive Steve Lancaster have congratulated all those within the rugby community who have been acknowledged for their service to the game in the 2026 New Year Honours list.<\/p>\n
Among eight recipients with connections to rugby are NZR Board Director Greg Barclay, who becomes a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sports governance; former All Black and NZR\u2019s Pasifika Engagement Manager, Saveatama Eroni Clarke, now a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Pacific community and sport; and Roger Drummond, also a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby and M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n
Kirk said:<\/p>\n
\u201cGreg is an astute director with a proven background in international sport. I\u2019ve enjoyed seeing him apply this extensive experience to rugby, bringing his insight, leadership and care for the game. Being honoured today demonstrates Greg\u2019s contribution to both domestic and global sport. We are delighted to have him involved in rugby.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kirk added:<\/p>\n
\u201cRoger has worked tirelessly for New Zealand Universities Rugby for decades as President. He has been a strong advocate at all levels and has successfully fostered and maintained NZU Rugby\u2019s long term relationship with Japan for the benefit of the wider game. It is great to see his contribution recognised.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
NZR Acting CEO Steve Lancaster added:<\/p>\n
\u201cEroni was an electric player at every level, with pace, power and skill taking him all the way to the black jersey. He\u2019s now using his personal experience to help create culturally competent spaces within rugby to enable Pasifika to thrive in all aspects of the game. His impact on Pasifika communities transcends rugby, which this honour duly acknowledges. We value having his passion, expertise and ability to connect across cultures in our game. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see so many rugby people acknowledged today. We know that rugby is at the heart of Kiwi communities, and do not take that for granted. There are a great number of people who give up their time and energy to support rugby activity at every level. On behalf of New Zealand Rugby, I\u2019d like to congratulate these recipients on their respective New Year Honours and thank them all for their service to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Full list of rugby\u2019s recipients in the 2026 New Year\u2019s Honours: \u00a0<\/p>\n
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit: \u00a0<\/p>\n
Greg Barclay (NZR Board Member), for services to sports governance \u00a0<\/p>\n
Rachel Taulelei, NZR Board Appointments and Remunerations Panel (ARP) Chair, for services to business, M\u0101ori and governance. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: \u00a0<\/p>\n
Eroni Clarke (NZR Pasifika Engagement Manager), for services to the Pacific community and rugby. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Roger Drummond (Former President New Zealand Universities Rugby Football Council), for services to rugby and M\u0101ori. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Malcolm Gillies, (Hurricanes Board Chair), for services to business. \u00a0<\/p>\n
New Zealand Order of Merit: \u00a0<\/p>\n
Iain Potter (former Hurricanes Chair) for services to sport and health. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
King’s Service Order (KSO): \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
David Jurlina for services to rugby and the community\u202f \u00a0<\/p>\n
Nada Jurlina for services to rugby and the community\u202f\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand Rugby\u2019s (NZR) Chair David Kirk and Acting Chief Executive Steve Lancaster have congratulated all those within…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-392628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}