Top level rugby these days is a billion dollar industry. In this country, the US fund manager Silver Lake has invested $200 million in the All Blacks.
New Zealand Rugby also has investors like Britain's richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and multi-national corporations such as technology group SAP, and Japanese pharmaceutical giant Taisho.
But as the All Blacks have become commercialised, the tug-of-war between performance and making money has intensified.
Gregor Paul is the New Zealand Herald's rugby columnist, who's just published a new book in which he asserts that the lure of monetising the All Black brand has impacted the performance of the players and the coaches. He speaks with Susie Ferguson.
Photo: supplied
