Players walk through the mud. Photo: Simon Watts/Photosport
Analysis - If you are feeling a tad underwhelmed at the events which transpired at NZ Rugby House this week, you are not alone. Its delegates overwhelmingly voted to accept Proposal Two, which was essentially to keep things as they were in terms of who got to sit on the board.
Provincial unions will keep their three mandatory seats and the board application process will still require a term of service on a provincial board. So, nothing really changes in that regard.
Just to recap: Proposal Two passed by 69 votes to 21 while the NZ Rugby, NZ Rugby Players' Association and Super franchise-backed Proposal One that aligned with the Pilkington Report for nine fully independently appointed board members was rejected by 31 votes to 59.
But promises and threats were made over this now seriously divisive issue. The main ones being that NZ Rugby (NZR) chairperson and former governor general Dame Patsy Reddy would resign, as she could not support a board that continued to run under the way it currently stands.
New Zealand Rugby Chair Dame Patsy Reddy. Photo: Michael Bradley
Dame Patsy was not the only one saying they would walk away. The NZ Rugby Players Association (RPA) initiated this entire process and said they would break away from NZR and form their own governing body. RPA boss Rob Nichol described today's outcome as "incredibly unfortunate".
"It was a great opportunity for the game to make the changes required," lamented Nichol in a statement released on Thursday.
"It's incredibly unfortunate we haven't taken that opportunity and ended up with what the experts labelled status quo or worse."
'Worse' is certainly depending on what side of the fence you're sitting on in this, which has been grandiosely described as a Civil War. So, if it's a war, was this vote simply what Winston Churchill once described as merely 'the end of the beginning'?
Dame Patsy, who was conspicuously out of the country on Thursday, looks a likely casualty. It feels like a daft way for NZR to lose probably its most dignified leadership presence, as Dame Patsy symbolised a move away from the traditional leadership of NZR that has been in place since its formation in 1892.
With her will presumably go the current board, however under either proposal they would have had to reapply for their positions anyway. NZR said a new board would be appointed soon, with plenty of applications expected, even with the stipulation that experience with a provincial union required.
But the main question now is what the RPA's next move will be. Nichol had aggressively pushed for the Pilkington Report's findings to be implemented, getting some heavyweight support this week publicly from former All Black captains Richie McCaw, Sean Fitzpatrick and Ian Kirkpatrick. Nichol's talk of forming their own governing body is something that sounds big in a Super League-esque sort of way.
In reality, it certainly won't have those sorts of ramifications for the sport. In fact, it might end up being a net positive as a separate entity for professional rugby could very much streamline that area of the game and leave NZR to simply run the representative teams and everything beneath Super Rugby.
Versions of that model are in place in England and France, and while the English club game has been in a precarious spot over the last few years, you certainly can't argue with rugby's popularity and engagement with fans in France right now.
Patrick Tuipulotu. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
While the vote was being taken, out on a windswept Alexandra Park field, the Blues were getting ready for their match against the Chiefs this Saturday night. Skipper and RPA spokesman Patrick Tuipulotu faced media afterwards and said the outcome was "a bit disappointing".
"Just for the future of rugby, from here on out, we have to do it together," he said.
"My understanding of Proposal Two is that we're still trying to work towards a better board outcome, but still, voices have to be heard. That's from community [rugby] right up to the top. There'll be some pretty hard conversations to be had."
Tuipulotu's measured response did include something that echoed the sentiments of quite a large number of rugby players, volunteers and fans when he referred to the entire situation as a "sideshow".
"We could really be making strides during this time," the 43-test All Black said.
"For a lot of us, rugby's not forever. But the actual game and what it does for the community, that's forever. We want that to outlast what we do as players."