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Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens believes New Zealand rugby must mend its fractured relationship with Australia.
Former All Black Andrew Mehrtens has challenged New Zealand Rugby to cut down on aggressive rhetoric and repair a damaged relationship with Australia in the best interests of the sport on both sides of Tasmania.
And the first five-eighths of the record-breaking 70 events also urged the people running the game in New Zealand to take into account the lessons of their failed campaign to host the next Rugby Championship, drawing parallels with the celebration of the 2003 World Cup. debacle when “maybe we shot ourselves a little in the foot.”
Mehrtens, in an interview with Stuff From his home in Sydney, he offered an interesting perspective on the trans-Tasmanian rugby relationship which has been somewhat strained lately. He’s still staunchly loyal to the New Zealand game, but he has a good idea of what’s going on in Australia after spending the past seven years building a career in the financial world, with some media work.
NZ Rugby did not win the affection of its Australian counterpart when it took a rather tough and condescending approach to finding a way forward in Super Rugby in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was presented as an ‘our way or approach. highway type.
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Since then Australia has managed to overtake New Zealand for the upcoming Rugby Championship, which has later sparked some rather concise negotiations over the two Bledisloe Cup matches to be played in this country. Relations seem to be a bit cordial nowadays.
“There must be more equality in the relationship,” Mehrtens said. Stuff. “On the New Zealand side, we need Australian rugby to be strong too. We need rugby in this part of the world to be strong in general.
“It seems that there has been an overly combative approach in recent years. Some of that maybe goes back to that 2003 World Cup decision and a little upset about it. It was 17 years ago, the staff has changed dramatically in both organizations, and if there is still any lingering animosity, we have to get rid of it. “
Mehrtens cautioned Kiwi rugby officials not to rely too heavily on the strength of the All Blacks brand at the expense of other important factors at play.
“That is not the end of everything,” he said. “We are not a big economy, and to take advantage of our brand, we basically depend on the goodwill of others and we do our best to foster that goodwill and not seem like we are pulling our non-existent weight.
“In fact, we have to play well with the other children and we have to put in a little more effort to achieve that. From the looks of it, we got a little heavy in the Rugby Championship. “
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Mehrtens felt that the message sent to Australian rugby around Super Rugby, and its place in the new landscape, had not helped either.
“He sounded critical. We know Aussie rugby has had some problems … but I don’t think sitting smugly on the other side of the Tasman and criticizing pointlessly is the way to go. We need to collaborate, we have to come together and recognize that we have a really strong brand in the rugby world, you have a strong economic influence, certainly much stronger than New Zealand, and on top of that, you have a much stronger presence in the rugby market. developing rugby in Asia.
“We have to do everything we can to work together, instead of working against Australia. That will benefit everyone. “
Mehrtens said there had to be a lesson in New Zealand losing the Rugby Championship to Australia, essentially being asked to come up with a contingency plan that ultimately became the most compelling option for Sanzaar.
“It seems that as the discussions progressed New Zealand assumed they had the Rugby Championship and the demands were too much for Sanzaar,” he added.
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New Zealand has dominated the trans-Tasmanian rugby rivalry on the field, with a mortgage on the Bledisloe Cup.
“As I understand it, it wasn’t just about government and quarantine issues … there were also certain demands around the organization and running of the tournament, including some form of management fees.”
But Mehrtens sees some hope that the relationship can be salvaged and that new CEO Mark Robinson will be the man to lead the way.
“Mark is a very smart guy and I’m sure he will seek to build good relationships with people. He’s pretty well connected internationally and I’m pretty sure he’s the type of person who wants to work with people for mutual benefit, rather than against them.
“I hope that speaking like this is not perceived as criticism of him. It is not. We just have to recognize that in order to have any kind of influence in negotiations with other rugby countries, particularly France and England, we need a couple of strong partners.
“Japan can be one of those, they are economically very strong and we should feel comfortable with them. We also need to feel comfortable with Australia. We have to accept that we cannot do this on our own. “
