The game in this country is about more than just the All Blacks

So who is running rugby in New Zealand?

Prior to Thursday’s governance vote, I’d have said it was New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) chief executive Rob Nichol.

But the decision of our provincial unions to resoundingly vote against the proposal Nichol championed severely undermines his authority, if not actually making his position untenable.

Nichol huffed and puffed about forming a rogue governing body, if the provincial unions didn’t cast a vote of liking.

Well, in the post-vote interview I heard with him, Nichol wasn’t nearly so strident.

Maybe the players he purports to represent felt he’d overplayed his hand? Either way, his days running that particular trade union should be numbered.

Similar could be said for New Zealand Rugby (NZR) chief executive Mark Robinson.

After all, NZR endorsed the same defeated proposal Nichol did. Or maybe they were just doing what Nichol had told them to, given the whip hand he’s held for so long.

Either way, if the NZR chief executive can’t rally the provincial delegates, then what place does he have running the outfit at all?

So good on the provincial unions for exercising their constitutional right to choose between Proposal 1 and Proposal 2.

The problem is that, despite showing their contempt for the NZRPA and the NZR board in opting for Proposal 2, the provincial unions don’t run the game either.

They don’t control the existing board and, with just three representatives on the nine-strong board that will now have to be formed, they’ll be outnumbered by independents then too.

It really is a shambles, which will come as no great surprise to an increasingly-exasperated fanbase.

Nichol, having struck a more conciliatory tone than he did prior to the vote, is talking about working constructively with NZR and other stakeholders to convene a body that represents the high performance part of the game i.e., the pampered few.

So what’s New Zealand Rugby Commercial, then?

I mean, this is all about money at the end of the day and that separate entity exists solely for the purpose of monetising the All Blacks.

How many quasi governing bodies does the NZRPA need before it can feel assured that the game is being run in the best interests of its members?

I heard Nichol talking all sorts of junk on Thursday about the NZRPA being more committed to grassroots and community rugby than anyone, but I doubt many people buy that.

If I saw a commitment to the beating, participatory heart of the game this week, it came from the provincial unions and no-one else.

It was them who, in words and deeds, sent the message that the game in this country is about more than just the All Blacks.

Nichol can continue rubbishing Proposal 2 and the people who voted for it but, to me, it was always a far more palatable option for fans and volunteers across the country.

So, on that score, I heartily congratulate the provincial unions on reminding Nichol that he doesn’t call all the shots here.

Ultimately, though, it still leaves us with a leadership vacuum.

It’s too early to speculate on who or what might fill it.

But what’s clear is that those who championed Proposal 1 have been defeated and need to exit the stage.

They sought a mandate to lead rugby in a different direction and it was roundly rejected.