Mark Robinson: NZ Rugby chief executive on why rugby unions are excluding R360 players from national team selection

Eight international rugby unions, including New Zealand, have warned players that they won't be eligible for high-level selection if they switch to the proposed Rugby 360 league.

There have been rumours of monetary offers directed at high-level rugby and league players for the competition, which is being promoted by former England international Mike Tindall.

NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson says many of the other unions haven't been as clear or public as New Zealand's has, because of the scrutiny, but they wanted to make things clear.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rugby unions across the world have declared war on the
new Saudi backed Rebel League. They've banned any players who
take up the contract from playing for the All Blacks,
the spring Box, the Wallabies any other national team. The
CEO of New Zealand Rugby is Mark Robinson.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Harmark Heather Hike. How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
I'm very well, thank you? So are you banning someone
from being an All Black if they've played in the league,
like while they're playing in the league, or if they've
ever played in the league.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Look, no, this is not a change to anything we've
done historically. Our eligibility criteria will remain exactly the same,
So we obviously sleep players out of our own domestic competitions,
and if players choose to play the club bag the overseas,
then they're not eligible for.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
The rights to play for Japan.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, it is, I mean the reason I guess there's
a bit of wider context here around joining as a
signatory to the statement put it out from national unions overnight.
It doesn't change our policy in this space at all.
But why we joined the list was basically do signal
some concerns and questions about the R three sixty competition

(01:04):
and to put out, you know, a unified position from
national unions. A lot of those national unions haven't been
or aren't always as clear or public as we are
because of the scrutiny that sits in New Zealand about
this policy. So they wanted to frompective.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
So you guys, you guys are being consistent. But the
likes of Australia, where they do select overseas based players,
they are taking a different stance, aren't they.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Well, yeah, it's it's for Australia or other countries to
speak to that. But that's right man.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Can you explain to me why why are the why
why is wild rugby these rugby unions banded together to
take such a hard line on the Saudi Back League.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, it's not like I say, from our position, England's position.
There are a number of countries where this is very
France Island, that's very consistent with what they've done historically.
I think the key part of the apart from eligibility,
is for the statement is to outline the roles of
national unions and the roles that we have to what
we call a whole of game approach around investing in

(02:10):
community rugby volunteers, referees, you know a wide range of
activities which where you want to just signal some concern
about if the league comes into the rugby ecosystem and
is not clear on how it wants to invest in
the wider game, what the impact of that can have.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Have you read Grant Robertson's book, No. Page two hundred
and forty three in the halftime break?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
What have you got a view on our three sixty
or something?

Speaker 1 (02:39):
No, listen to this Mark. In the halftime break, I
confronted New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson in the big
reception room at Eden Park about the absence of senior
New Zealand rugby people in Fungata. This is during the
Women's World Cup tournament. Our conversation grew a bit heated.
Mark was very defensive about how much work they had
put into the tournament. I felt the investmentl blah blah
blah blah blah. He reckons He realized is that people

(03:00):
in the room had stepped several meters away, and on reflection,
I was probably being a bit overly harsh. Do you
remember that really? Now?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I don't recall either having anything too heated with Grant.
What I would say though, is that I'm glad that
he recognized we did an amazing job to get the
tournament here, considering what other countries put on the table
from a government investment point of view, that we managed
to get it here. So I'm glad that it got recognized.
But they always had a lot of time for Grant
and had a lot of fun to around some great
sporting events around the.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
World nicely handled. Mark Mark Robinson, the CEO of New
Zealand Rugby. For more from Heather Duplessy Alan Drive, listen
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