Financial heavyweight has big plans for world rugby

New Zealanders may not have heard a great deal about the role private equity giant CVC Capital partners is playing in British rugby but signs are they are set to turn their attention to the world game.

CVC has been in talks to secure a 14 percent stake in Six Nations rugby, a deal believed to be worth around 300 million-pound. Television rights had been an issue but it is understood that impediment has been cleared. CVC is also looking for a 27 percent share in the PRO14 competition, worth around 120-million pound. It already has a 27 percent share of England's Premiership worth 200-million pound.

But the Financial Times has reported the company is now in talks with World Rugby and the New Zealand and South African unions which would make CVC the 'biggest commercial player' in rugby.

The newspaper said CVC is looking to bundle the television rights of competitions around the world into a single package. At the same time, it is also studying streaming deals with Amazon to create an over-the-top (OTT) subscription service.

Also on CVC's reported agenda is a Club World Cup tournament similar to that Fifa has in soccer.

The Financial Times reported World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper as saying: "There's an understanding that CVC are an investor in the sport and a supporter of important member unions of ours.

"Therefore, it's best that we work together with them where possible rather than be in a situation that we're not in dialogue."

It is likely that the plans to stage a Nations' Championship will be revisited. It was dropped last year, in spite of its six billion pounds price tag because top-tier countries wouldn't support it.

The Financial Times claimed CVC was in 'advanced discussions' with South Africa. While there have been rumours of the South Africans switching from the Rugby Championship to the Six Nations, that wasn't necessarily part of CVC's plans.

Eddie Jones cops a blast

England coach Eddie Jones faced criticism after his side went down 17-24 to France in the opening round of the Six Nations over the weekend.

France unleashed a dominating first half and got out to a 24-0 lead by the three-quarter mark of the game in Paris.

It was a performance critics said was comparable to their failure in the World Cup final against South Africa in November.

Jones said: "It's like we forgot how to play rugby in the first half. We were slow out of the blocks, we were sorry for ourselves and out of kilter, we let the situation get to us.

"We weren't good enough first half and they were very good. We didn't win the gainline and struggled to get advantage there."

Irish critic and former Wallaby Matt Williams dumped on Jones for his 'arrogance'.

"He said they want to be the best team of all-time. Look at that performance there. Why would you say something stupid like that? Why put the pressure on your players."

Williams said Jones' pre-game comments saying the game was about brutality and physicality had not helped. All they had done was poke the French bear.

"The French came out and they just gave it to them…That's when England fail: they get arrogant and believe they are unbeatable."

Sunday Times writer Stephen Jones said: "In all the key areas of the game until the last quarter, England's promises to be bullies, to savage France in a physical epic, looked ludicrous, pointless. Eddie Jones came across as the braggart with nothing to back it up…This was the best display of French defending I can recall, and by a distance. They forced England to resort to scrummaging and kicking, they shut the attack down completely."

England now travel to Edinburgh to play Scotland at Murrayfield at the weekend.

Mike Moore helped change the face of NZ sport

News of Mike Moore's death is a reminder of the role he played in the sporting society we enjoy in New Zealand now.

Whatever else he may have done in his political career, there is no doubting the stamp he made on sport and recreation as we know it.

For years before the 1984 Labour Government came to power, sport had been struggling for official recognition, and help, from governments in general.

Norman Kirk's 1972-75 Labour Government had brought in a scheme for Recreation and Sport, geared just as much towards non-sporting activities as those of a sporting nature but it was really only recognition of programmes and schemes to get people exercising.

But as New Zealanders began to broaden their sporting capabilities and to take part in more regular overseas competition the pressure went on for some form of government recognition and assistance.

When Moore vigorously sought the job of Minister of Sport and Recreation in 1984, he soon put in place the Sport on the Move study, chaired by Sir Ron Scott, and which eventually transformed the involvement of government in Sport.

No surprises that Scott and his team suggested dramatic overhaul of the sports system in New Zealand. The Hillary Commission was established, still attempting to achieve a balance between sport and recreation, but definitely improving the life of sports people in general and helping them with funding in their endeavours.

Once the system became a little more self-sustaining with the advent of Lotto as a fund-raiser for sport and the arts, New Zealand was a significant step forward in pulling back their ability to compete with other countries. It didn't hurt that Labour's move was on the back of the highly-successful 1984 Olympic Games which put sports like canoeing and yachting, make that wind-surfing, more in the mainstream than they had been previously.

Out of those beginnings arose the even more influential structure of Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand which would only ever have been a dream under the pre-1984 system.

Much of the sporting environment in New Zealand nowadays is a direct result of the first steps put in place by Mike Moore and he deserves to be acknowledged by sports people across the board for those initiatives. It is all too easy for politicians to glad hand their way into sport to push their own cause.

But Moore saw a desperate need and did something about it.

It is more than likely that a generation having grown up with all the modern benefits laid on have no comprehension of just how different things might have been without the boldness of Moore's approach. 

They have possibly never heard of Mike Moore but they, and those in the future, should be ever thankful for his contribution. He was a facilitator. He was hardly a sportsman, possibly not even a sports fan, but he understood the need and he did something about it.