December 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Earlier today the venues for the All Blacks home test matches in 2026 were announced. The All Blacks will open the year against France at the new One NZ Stadium, they'll then play Italy in Wellington and then two test matches at Eden Park against Ireland and Australia.
But have NZR missed the mark? Was the test match against Italy an opportunity to take test match rugby back out to the regions?
Tony Lewis was the CEO of Tasman rugby when they managed to secure an All Blacks test in Nelson in 2018 and he joined D'Arcy to discuss what bringing the test match to a smaller region meant to New Zealanders.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sports Talk on News Talks. Heb early today you probably
got across this. The venues for the All Blacks home
tests in twenty twenty six were announced. They were like
seventeen tests and all but only four at home. That's cool.
The All Black's going to open the year against France
(00:33):
at the New Digs in christ Church. Understandable's praying new
it's got a roof, and then they'll play Italy and Wellington.
Then two Test matches at even Park against Ireland and Australia.
But if you see the rugby mister Mark, I mean
the Test match against Italy. Surely that's an opportunity to
take a Test match back to the region.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Surely.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Tony lewis former Tasman CEO. He was CEO the year
that he managed to attract an All Blacks Test to
Nelson they played Argentina Beck in twenty eighteen, joined us
Now to discuss what bringing a Test match to a
smaller region meant to New Zealands. How difficult it was, Tony, Tony,
welcome to the show. So tell me how did you
(01:15):
manage to bring a test match to Nelson.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Look, the best thing about insid Are and when it
comes to test matches, they don't sort of, they sent
a tendor document out. We all know that the vast
majority of test matches are going to go to the
big regions and now the canneries back. It's fantastic they
get a test. Shame to see my hometown the need
them this out. I just thought of take a stab
(01:40):
in the dark. I'd read Mike Tyson's unauthorized biography and
he said, don't waste your time on the little shit,
go for something big. And I thought, well, why not,
Let's go for the test. So I rang Nigel Cash
is a good friend at insid Are, and I had
to chat to him about it, and he very politely said,
these tender documents are not really made for Nelson and
(02:00):
in those days I think we had eight hundred covered
seats and I think we're capacity for five thou So
it gave me sort of, I said, I ring it back.
In twenty four hours, I worked out how much they
made if they had a test mentioned new Plymouth, Hawks Bay, Hamilton, Wellington,
did Daneta and christ Church and obviously Auckland is a
(02:22):
different beast, so we kept out of that sort of
one and made a sort of a pitch that if
I could guaranteesd Rugby one point two million figure, how
would we go about it. So on the basis of
a positive phone call, we started to get our everything
in a row and we got some fantastic support. Here.
(02:44):
I spoke to a guy called Shane Drummond who and
I said to him, I'll get three hundred thousand here.
I need nine hundred thousand. Shane, You've got twelve hours
to get it for me. So by the end of
forty eight hours we had the one point two million guaranteed.
If Darcy, if you and I went to the test
New Zealand Rugby, we've got that money. We had four
people prepared to guarantee one point two million dollars to
(03:07):
enable us to secure the Test match.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
There's a for a million name it and Nelson's not
Mitch's old man, is.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It as Mitch's father. And the other thing is that
we did it with not we did it with new money.
So guys have been really successful in Nelson since they
have been coming here as kids or they've come here
to work so you know the other two people you
wouldn't even know, but you know heavily involved in the
(03:35):
in the area employing, employing people. So basically we had
to guarantee at one point two million. We put a
business case forward, we got the counsel on side, and
off we went.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
How much of a punt was that? How much did
you stand to lose? Is there a lot of stress
involved in this?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Absolutely no stress whatsoever because we had the guarantee of
the of the money. So whatever happened if two people
turned up New Zealand Rugby got their day and that
game was played in front of nobody. But the biggest
stress was how do you take a stadium which had
(04:12):
five thousand seats and turned into a twenty three thousand
all seedar And that was what we did and we
built that was the same year in two eighteen, I
think the FIFA World Cup was on in Russia, my
memory sues me correct, and that was so we did
that and we built the biggest portable stadium in the
(04:32):
world that that year, out performing what they did in Russia.
So we actually put in here I think it was
eighteen thousand portable seats where it was an all seedar. Yeah,
it was two thousand and eighteen for FIFA, and we
put in twenty eighteen thousand portable seats in and built
(04:53):
a stadium that stayed up for I think two weeks,
and then we had the game and off we went.
We sold every ticket we were set out about two
weeks beforehand, and we had forty percent of people that
came to the test match came from outside the region.
So for the region it was massive. And I suppose
the highlight was the pubs in town ran out of
(05:13):
beer and they were going to walworthst and pack and
save and countdown buying bottles of beer to survive. And
that was only mid afternoon.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
How good was this for the community? I think, I
know what you're going to say, But when you look
back at that and reverberated with plainly money that the
good will created amongst the Tasman, amongst the rugby, amongst
everybody there, that's almost got no price tag, has it?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah, it has no price tag? I think that. I
think that simple thing for the region was is that
our stadium and the fact that we'd been able to
build it at twenty three thousand. To see the stadium
is in the middle of the town so I can remember.
I'm a good friend of Andrew Merchens. He rings me
up at ten o'clock and him and I are having
a gin at ten o'clock to celebrate is that. He said,
(06:03):
you've got to come down to the main street because
it was pumping and we just celebrated what it would
looked like. Our biggest wayery was Nelsonian's infamous for rocking
up two minutes before kickoff. Lez Edwards, who was the
commercial manager of Tasman at the time. Him and I
were nervous and no one get there, but we put
bands on inside the stadium, et cetera, et cetera, and
(06:25):
we had everyone seated and really thirty minutes before kickoff.
So look, it was fantastic for the region when you're
getting that number of people coming to the region to
watch a football match. They actually came on the Thursday,
the there Thursday night, Friday, Saturday and then they go Sunday.
And the highlight for me was I was singing at
(06:45):
the airport dropping some friends off on Sunday afternoon and
this bloke walked up to me and he goes, I've
gone to sixty all black Test matches all around the world,
and he said, I'm lucky to do that. This is
the best Test match I've ever been to. I think
if you listen to Tony Johnson's talk about it, he
goes congratulations. He's on Reagan for giving Tasmin the test
best rugby experience I've had since the two and living
(07:07):
World Cup. So I think we've got to look after
the major stadiums and in Z. But I also think
there's an opportunity if the union and the council, and
we're very lucky Nelson City Council at the time really
pushed hard to bring something to regional end Z and
it was fantastic for everyone.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
So Telly Lewis, you're saying here, maybe the weight the
emphasis should be on the union to actually start this
ball rolling. And it's not out of the question. This
is not impossible as opposed to the union coming to
the local union saying oh, we wouldn't mind giving you
a Test match. It's got to come from the place itself.
(07:46):
And the parameters what you're saying, I'm presuming then aren't
too overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
They're overwhelming. I give you example. I'm not speaking out
of school here, But when I was a chief executive
the Western Force and we would have an all Black
Wallaby tests that only went to Perth. They didn't go
out of the goodness of the heart of you know,
people and Australian rugby saying let's take a Test match
to Perth. You had the local government and WA Tourism
(08:12):
actively putting in millions upon millions of dollars and I
won't give the final figure because you just won't believe
it to secure that test match. So for that one
particular day, at that one particular time, all the eyes
in the rugby world are watching Perth. And if you
look at Test matches in Perth or test matches in
(08:32):
Australia always has Perth or Wa or New South Wales,
so it's actually pushing the area that they live in.
I really think that if people want to have Test
matches in their regions or whether it's Wellington or Auckton,
it's really on behold of the government and the council
(08:52):
to get behind these things to make it happen, because
rugby is the people's game and every decision over made
in rugby is this is the best interests of rugby.
The Test match that we had in Nelson is probably
the highlight of the sport sporting calendar Nelson's ever had.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
With Italy being the focus because they are off to
Wellington to play a test there. Well Antonians don't necessarily
turn up on mass but surely Italy should be in
the cross heres of everybody outside of the major cities
to get because it's it's not an overwhelming proposition, it's
Italy with all due respect.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, it's an interesting when you say, you look where
the Italian communities are in NZ and I'm actually sitting
in the wood in Nelson at the moment, which is
probably New Zealand's most predominant. The number one group that
lives in the wood would be Italians. And you know,
so I think, you know, you've got to think outside
(09:53):
the square. I know, for example, that if you can
think outside the square, you can get your community behind you,
and you can and you can back yourself to deliver
you will. And I know, without divulging secrets from the
Tasman Rugby Union because I'm not involved with it anymore,
but they bank significant sums of money on the way
(10:15):
they ran that testament. So normally in New Zealand rugby
Union would pay the Tasan Rugby Union a management fee.
We gave that up and we said no, we don't
need that, but we got the porridge rights for the ground.
So work out one and one and equals to who
won there. So I think you just got to think
outside the square. I'd encourage anyone who's in local government
(10:36):
who really wants an event, whether it's if it's insured
soccer or cricket or rugby, that if you can think
outside the square and you can really make it work
and get your community behind you, there's nothing surer that
it's a win win win for everybody.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Tony Lewis a former CEO of Tasman. Thank you so
much for your time and that intel an essence. If
you want something, the onus is on your community, your
local government and you to go out there and grab it.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's not impossible, absolutely correct. And as I would say
to you, no one gives you anything for nothing, so
you've got to go out and grab yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sports Talk on News Talks. Heb early today you probably
got across this. The venues for the All Blacks home
tests in twenty twenty six were announced. They were like
seventeen tests and all but only four at home. That's cool.
The All Black's going to open the year against France
(00:33):
at the New Digs in christ Church. Understandable's praying new
it's got a roof, and then they'll play Italy and Wellington.
Then two Test matches at even Park against Ireland and Australia.
But if you see the rugby mister Mark, I mean
the Test match against Italy. Surely that's an opportunity to
take a Test match back to the region.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Surely.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Tony lewis former Tasman CEO. He was CEO the year
that he managed to attract an All Blacks Test to
Nelson they played Argentina Beck in twenty eighteen, joined us
Now to discuss what bringing a Test match to a
smaller region meant to New Zealands. How difficult it was, Tony, Tony,
welcome to the show. So tell me how did you
(01:15):
manage to bring a test match to Nelson.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Look, the best thing about insid Are and when it
comes to test matches, they don't sort of, they sent
a tendor document out. We all know that the vast
majority of test matches are going to go to the
big regions and now the canneries back. It's fantastic they
get a test. Shame to see my hometown the need
them this out. I just thought of take a stab
(01:40):
in the dark. I'd read Mike Tyson's unauthorized biography and
he said, don't waste your time on the little shit,
go for something big. And I thought, well, why not,
Let's go for the test. So I rang Nigel Cash
is a good friend at insid Are, and I had
to chat to him about it, and he very politely said,
these tender documents are not really made for Nelson and
(02:00):
in those days I think we had eight hundred covered
seats and I think we're capacity for five thou So
it gave me sort of, I said, I ring it back.
In twenty four hours, I worked out how much they
made if they had a test mentioned new Plymouth, Hawks Bay, Hamilton, Wellington,
did Daneta and christ Church and obviously Auckland is a
(02:22):
different beast, so we kept out of that sort of
one and made a sort of a pitch that if
I could guaranteesd Rugby one point two million figure, how
would we go about it. So on the basis of
a positive phone call, we started to get our everything
in a row and we got some fantastic support. Here.
(02:44):
I spoke to a guy called Shane Drummond who and
I said to him, I'll get three hundred thousand here.
I need nine hundred thousand. Shane, You've got twelve hours
to get it for me. So by the end of
forty eight hours we had the one point two million guaranteed.
If Darcy, if you and I went to the test
New Zealand Rugby, we've got that money. We had four
people prepared to guarantee one point two million dollars to
(03:07):
enable us to secure the Test match.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
There's a for a million name it and Nelson's not
Mitch's old man, is.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
It as Mitch's father. And the other thing is that
we did it with not we did it with new money.
So guys have been really successful in Nelson since they
have been coming here as kids or they've come here
to work so you know the other two people you
wouldn't even know, but you know heavily involved in the
(03:35):
in the area employing, employing people. So basically we had
to guarantee at one point two million. We put a
business case forward, we got the counsel on side, and
off we went.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
How much of a punt was that? How much did
you stand to lose? Is there a lot of stress
involved in this?
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Absolutely no stress whatsoever because we had the guarantee of
the of the money. So whatever happened if two people
turned up New Zealand Rugby got their day and that
game was played in front of nobody. But the biggest
stress was how do you take a stadium which had
(04:12):
five thousand seats and turned into a twenty three thousand
all seedar And that was what we did and we
built that was the same year in two eighteen, I
think the FIFA World Cup was on in Russia, my
memory sues me correct, and that was so we did
that and we built the biggest portable stadium in the
(04:32):
world that that year, out performing what they did in Russia.
So we actually put in here I think it was
eighteen thousand portable seats where it was an all seedar. Yeah,
it was two thousand and eighteen for FIFA, and we
put in twenty eighteen thousand portable seats in and built
(04:53):
a stadium that stayed up for I think two weeks,
and then we had the game and off we went.
We sold every ticket we were set out about two
weeks beforehand, and we had forty percent of people that
came to the test match came from outside the region.
So for the region it was massive. And I suppose
the highlight was the pubs in town ran out of
(05:13):
beer and they were going to walworthst and pack and
save and countdown buying bottles of beer to survive. And
that was only mid afternoon.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
How good was this for the community? I think, I
know what you're going to say, But when you look
back at that and reverberated with plainly money that the
good will created amongst the Tasman, amongst the rugby, amongst
everybody there, that's almost got no price tag, has it?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Yeah, it has no price tag? I think that. I
think that simple thing for the region was is that
our stadium and the fact that we'd been able to
build it at twenty three thousand. To see the stadium
is in the middle of the town so I can remember.
I'm a good friend of Andrew Merchens. He rings me
up at ten o'clock and him and I are having
a gin at ten o'clock to celebrate is that. He said,
(06:03):
you've got to come down to the main street because
it was pumping and we just celebrated what it would
looked like. Our biggest wayery was Nelsonian's infamous for rocking
up two minutes before kickoff. Lez Edwards, who was the
commercial manager of Tasman at the time. Him and I
were nervous and no one get there, but we put
bands on inside the stadium, et cetera, et cetera, and
(06:25):
we had everyone seated and really thirty minutes before kickoff.
So look, it was fantastic for the region when you're
getting that number of people coming to the region to
watch a football match. They actually came on the Thursday,
the there Thursday night, Friday, Saturday and then they go Sunday.
And the highlight for me was I was singing at
(06:45):
the airport dropping some friends off on Sunday afternoon and
this bloke walked up to me and he goes, I've
gone to sixty all black Test matches all around the world,
and he said, I'm lucky to do that. This is
the best Test match I've ever been to. I think
if you listen to Tony Johnson's talk about it, he
goes congratulations. He's on Reagan for giving Tasmin the test
best rugby experience I've had since the two and living
(07:07):
World Cup. So I think we've got to look after
the major stadiums and in Z. But I also think
there's an opportunity if the union and the council, and
we're very lucky Nelson City Council at the time really
pushed hard to bring something to regional end Z and
it was fantastic for everyone.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
So Telly Lewis, you're saying here, maybe the weight the
emphasis should be on the union to actually start this
ball rolling. And it's not out of the question. This
is not impossible as opposed to the union coming to
the local union saying oh, we wouldn't mind giving you
a Test match. It's got to come from the place itself.
(07:46):
And the parameters what you're saying, I'm presuming then aren't
too overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
They're overwhelming. I give you example. I'm not speaking out
of school here, But when I was a chief executive
the Western Force and we would have an all Black
Wallaby tests that only went to Perth. They didn't go
out of the goodness of the heart of you know,
people and Australian rugby saying let's take a Test match
to Perth. You had the local government and WA Tourism
(08:12):
actively putting in millions upon millions of dollars and I
won't give the final figure because you just won't believe
it to secure that test match. So for that one
particular day, at that one particular time, all the eyes
in the rugby world are watching Perth. And if you
look at Test matches in Perth or test matches in
(08:32):
Australia always has Perth or Wa or New South Wales,
so it's actually pushing the area that they live in.
I really think that if people want to have Test
matches in their regions or whether it's Wellington or Auckton,
it's really on behold of the government and the council
(08:52):
to get behind these things to make it happen, because
rugby is the people's game and every decision over made
in rugby is this is the best interests of rugby.
The Test match that we had in Nelson is probably
the highlight of the sport sporting calendar Nelson's ever had.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
With Italy being the focus because they are off to
Wellington to play a test there. Well Antonians don't necessarily
turn up on mass but surely Italy should be in
the cross heres of everybody outside of the major cities
to get because it's it's not an overwhelming proposition, it's
Italy with all due respect.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, it's an interesting when you say, you look where
the Italian communities are in NZ and I'm actually sitting
in the wood in Nelson at the moment, which is
probably New Zealand's most predominant. The number one group that
lives in the wood would be Italians. And you know,
so I think, you know, you've got to think outside
(09:53):
the square. I know, for example, that if you can
think outside the square, you can get your community behind you,
and you can and you can back yourself to deliver
you will. And I know, without divulging secrets from the
Tasman Rugby Union because I'm not involved with it anymore,
but they bank significant sums of money on the way
(10:15):
they ran that testament. So normally in New Zealand rugby
Union would pay the Tasan Rugby Union a management fee.
We gave that up and we said no, we don't
need that, but we got the porridge rights for the ground.
So work out one and one and equals to who
won there. So I think you just got to think
outside the square. I'd encourage anyone who's in local government
(10:36):
who really wants an event, whether it's if it's insured
soccer or cricket or rugby, that if you can think
outside the square and you can really make it work
and get your community behind you, there's nothing surer that
it's a win win win for everybody.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Tony Lewis a former CEO of Tasman. Thank you so
much for your time and that intel an essence. If
you want something, the onus is on your community, your
local government and you to go out there and grab it.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's not impossible, absolutely correct. And as I would say
to you, no one gives you anything for nothing, so
you've got to go out and grab yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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