This is why the market reaction to Lancaster\u2019s promotion has been muted, because stakeholders, and indeed NZR staff and executives, were expecting the process to unearth a heavyweight \u2013 a proven force in big business or the entertainment industry with credible corporate experience and a valid connection to the community game.<\/p>\n
NZ Rugby CEO Steve Lancaster. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The initial job brief was to drive NZR\u2019s digital strategy, build and globalise brand All Blacks, and make rugby the undoubted first-choice game of Gen Z.<\/p>\n
With the greatest respect to Lancaster, his name was not one being bandied around by stakeholders last August as a potential candidate.<\/p>\n
NZR\u2019s own board<\/a> presumably didn\u2019t see him as a credible candidate either. In March they put out a press release confirming that Lancaster \u2013 who was elevated to interim CEO in November last year<\/a> \u2013 would be moving to a newly created role of chief rugby officer \u201cat the conclusion of his appointment as interim CEO\u201d.<\/p>\n NZR chair David Kirk<\/a> says the appointment process was deliberate and strategic, and that Lancaster has been given the job after winning the trust of the board through the way he has conducted himself since November last year.<\/p>\n In Lancaster\u2019s time as interim boss, he oversaw the appointment of Dave Rennie<\/a> as All Blacks coach, the high-performance restructure that has led to Don Tricker returning in a revamped role<\/a>, and the arrival of two key, senior executives (chief financial officer and chief commercial officer).<\/p>\n It was a six-month audition in which he did enough to persuade the board that he was more than a safe pair of hands \u2013 more capable than being someone with the singular remit of holding the fort until a better candidate could be found.<\/p>\n But the rugby fraternity \u2013 both domestic and international \u2013 didn\u2019t appreciate he was a serious contender to be permanently appointed and there is a sense that his promotion is as much a result of a failed process as it is the successful impression he has made in the last six months.<\/p>\n In late October last year, it is believed that current Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison<\/a> reached preferred candidate status.<\/p>\n The Englishman, however, is understood to have been spooked by discussions in the USA with select board members where it was heavily emphasised that he would be expected to show his face in clubrooms across New Zealand and be a visible presence around the grassroots game.<\/p>\n It is believed that remit jarred with his desire to live in Australia and fly in and out of New Zealand, and with his pay demand of $1.5m being more than the $1.1m NZR was willing to offer, negotiations collapsed.<\/p>\n Early this year, the search then became more nuanced and targeted, with the Herald having been told NZR was looking for an older, experienced, high-achieving business figure who was maybe looking to get out of the corporate world.<\/p>\n The plan was to shoulder tap \u2013 to wine and dine even \u2013 and persuade well-considered candidates that the job was right for them.<\/p>\n The names that kept coming up were former Air NZ CEO Greg Foran, former Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell, current One NZ CEO Jason Paris and current Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.<\/p>\n Whether these and other big names were approached and said no, or whether the board, having seen Lancaster in action, decided he was ready after all to do the job permanently, is not known, but it\u2019s probable that both things happened.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also likely that the board rescoped the role after appointing Chris Kinraid as CFO and Chris Brown as CCO in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n With these two on board, the executive team has a skilled financial manager who understands the complexities of NZR\u2019s accounts, and a proven salesman who can be trusted to lead negotiations on sponsorship and broadcast agreements.<\/p>\n The CEO could therefore be more focused on rugby \u2013 from the All Blacks to grassroots \u2013 which was essentially the job Lancaster was readying himself to do.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll obviously do more than that as he\u2019ll be the face of the organisation, the man to front big media events, run point on the relationship with Silver Lake<\/a> and provide sponsors and all other stakeholders with the confidence that NZR has a clearly defined strategy and vision.<\/p>\n It seems that the high command will operate as an executive trio, with Kirk\u2019s strong oversight adding to the leadership mix. While this set-up was perhaps not what anyone imagined, the limited evidence to date suggests it could deliver the results the organisation wants.<\/p>\nNZ Rugby chair David Kirk speaks at the AGM in Wellington yesterday. Photo \/ SmartFrame<\/p>\n
Tom Harrison, chief executive officer of Six Nations Rugby, was believed to be a leading contender for the NZ Rugby job. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Miles Hurrell, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Greg Foran and Sophie Moloney had all been touted as contenders for the role of CEO at NZ Rugby. <\/p>\n