- China should use fiscal policy to boost growth: IMF
- Wolfspeed and ZF put German chip factory on ice
- Putin faces calls for peace at flagship BRICS summit
- Stock markets and oil prices retreat
- Dupont back in France squad for November internationals
- Caelan Doris to captain Ireland in November rugby Tests
- 14 dead, thousands evacuated as tropical storm batters Philippines
- Boeing reports $6.2 bn loss on strike, defense contract woes
- Germany's Scholz heads to India despite differences on Russia
- Sri Lanka deploys troops to Jewish community centre after US warning
- Sione Tuipulotu named as Scotland captain for November internationals
- 'I'm broken', mass rape victim tells French court
- Don't let tech gurus decide the future: Nobel winner Simon Johnson
- Palestinian seeds join Arctic 'doomsday vault'
- Ariana Grande concert attack survivors win UK harassment case
- Blinken on new quest for Saudi ties with Israel
- UK and Germany sign 'milestone' defence deal
- Seoul says N.Korea sent more troops to Russia, Kyiv urges their surrender
- Mehidy, Jaker keep Bangladesh alive against South Africa
- Stock markets mixed, oil prices drop
- Stokes forecasts spin battle in Pakistan-England decider
- Volvo Cars cuts sales forecast on market headwinds
- South Africa 'shattered' by divorce of rugby star Kolisi
- Putin touts 'multipolar world order' at flagship BRICS summit
- Deutsche Bank profits boosted by legal settlements
- WHO says 'intense bombardment' halts Gaza polio vaccinations
- UK's Starmer plays down Trump team claims of interference
- Son of Singapore's founder granted asylum in UK
- Mehidy, Jaker take Bangladesh into lead over South Africa in Test
- Stocks mixed as rate cut bets are trimmed, US vote in focus
- Seven dead, thousands evacuated as tropical storm batters Philippines
- Pant fit for second Test as Gill gives India selection 'headache'
- S. Korean Olympic shooter Kim keeps cool over newfound fame
- UN chief in Russia for Putin's BRICS summit
- Markets mixed as rate cut bets are trimmed, US vote in focus
- US says 'now is the time' to end Gaza war
- Harris to face voters' queries in crucial Pennsylvania
- Mehidy fifty steers Bangladesh towards parity at 201-6
- King Charles arrives in Samoa, where Commonwealth looks to shed stodgy image
- Ohtani 50-50 baseball sells for record-breaking $4.39 million
- Morikawa says 'winning is tough' ahead of Japan title defence
- New Zealand's Bowes smashes record-breaking 103-ball double ton
- Troubled Boeing faces investors and awaits strike vote
- Indian capital chokes as 'hazardous' air pollution returns
- Thousands flee homes as fierce tropical storm batters Philippines
- Tokyo Metro shares rocket on debut
- Israel says killed Nasrallah's apparent successor in Beirut strike
- Climate change worsened deadly Africa floods, scientists say
- Los Angeles Dodgers baseball icon Fernando Valenzuela dead at 63
- Indian capital's 'hazardous' air pollution season starts
RYCEF | 0.14% | 7.37 | $ | |
BP | -0.67% | 31.37 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.11% | 24.708 | $ | |
RBGPF | 1.59% | 63 | $ | |
RELX | -0.73% | 46.681 | $ | |
AZN | -0.52% | 76.92 | $ | |
GSK | -0.53% | 37.8 | $ | |
BTI | -0.59% | 34.685 | $ | |
NGG | -0.17% | 66.18 | $ | |
VOD | -1.12% | 9.444 | $ | |
BCC | 0.52% | 134.345 | $ | |
RIO | -1.67% | 64.405 | $ | |
JRI | 0.04% | 13.075 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.52% | 24.802 | $ | |
SCS | -1.34% | 12.64 | $ | |
BCE | -0.53% | 33.145 | $ |
New Zealand Rugby set for pivotal vote after breakaway threat
New Zealand Rugby will hold a crucial vote Thursday over who runs the game in the country that could see top players split from the governing body if they don't get their way.
Months of bubbling discord are set to reach a head at NZR's special general meeting in the capital Wellington.
Powerbrokers will vote for one of two proposals about a new leadership structure for the national governing body in the rugby-mad country.
NZR and the professional players' union are backing a proposal of far-reaching changes, primarily that the nine-strong board all be independently elected.
That was a key point among the recommendations set out in a stinging independent review of the game's governance last year.
However, the influential 26 provincial unions from New Zealand rugby's amateur heartlands have tabled their own proposal.
They agree some change is needed at the top, but want to keep their current powers to decide three places on the nine-strong board.
Ahead of the vote, the players' association upped the stakes by threatening to break away from New Zealand Rugby and instead form their own rebel body to govern professional rugby if the provincial unions get their way.
If neither proposal reaches the two-thirds threshold needed from the 90 votes, there will be stalemate and ongoing rancour.
All Blacks great John Kirwan, part of the side which won the 1987 World Cup, worries that the infighting at the top could drive fans away.
"The saddest thing for me is people don't give an (expletive) any more because they're just sick of it," he told radio station Newstalk ZB.
"If you just stop caring, that's when our game is in real danger," he added.
However, Canterbury Rugby Union chairman Pete Winchester warned that the 11th-hour breakaway threat from the professional players is only likely to harden attitudes in the provinces.
"We look after 150,000 amateur players, (spread) around 26 provincial unions in the country," Winchester told Newstalk ZB.
"It's a complex business. We are just saying it would be good to have three people with experience of working in provincial rugby."
Richie McCaw, who captained the All Blacks to back-to-back Rugby World Cup triumphs, called on all stakeholders to look beyond themselves.
"I would urge people that make the decision to not just think about their own patches, but to step above that and think what is right for New Zealand rugby in the long term," McCaw told the New Zealand Herald.
P.Stevenson--AMWN