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Steve Lancaster last-man standing after global search fails to find NZ Rugby boss
After searching the globe for a new CEO, New Zealand Rugby finally came to the conclusion that the best person was right under their nose.
The New Zealand Rugby Board has confirmed Steve Lancaster as the organisation’s new chief executive.
Lancaster was overlooked when he first applied for the job, but stepped in as interim boss six months ago, following the departure of previous chief executive Mark Robinson.
New Zealand Rugby chair David Kirk said last year’s governance changes might have played a part in their hesitation to appoint someone internally.
A new nine-person New Zealand Rugby (NZR) Board was officially ratified and took office in early 2025 following a significant reform process aimed at modernizing the organisation.
When the new board came in Kirk said it “didn’t have a lot of experience with or understanding of the capabilities of the management team” within NZ Rugby.
“We just weren’t ready to appoint an internal person to the chief executive role, from what we knew at the time, we didn’t feel that there was the right candidate available,” Kirk said.
“But since Steve stepped into the interim role … he’s just really grasped the role and shown us that he can manage a complex organisation …we’ve just seen him in action and we’ve see what he can do.”
Kirk said discussions with some external candidates got quite advanced but the board was never fully satisfied.
Head-hunters assisted with the search, before NZR whittled down a short-list to interview but found none were suitable. So they went out on another external search, which still didn’t yield anyone they were happy with.
NZR chair David Kirk. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
At the same time Lancaster kept moving up in the board’s estimations.
“This is probably the case sometimes when you’re looking to move into a new organisation with a new board, you tend to underestimate the capability of the internal talent.
“We thought he interviewed well but nevertheless we [decided] to go for an external appointment but we’ve been forced in a nice way to review our decision, we’ve been able to see someone in the role performing to a level that is what we need.
“We haven’t been able to find anyone external that’s as capable as him. The hurdle that an external appointment had to jump has gone up and up as we’ve seen Steve’s performance in the role so it just became a natural decision for the board.”
Kirk said Lancaster had all the qualities to excel in the role including the ability to deal with a lot of complex relationships, such as with World Rugby and SANZAR (South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby).
Lancaster, who was appointed NZR’s general manager community rugby in 2016, said he was humbled by the opportunity and well aware of the “responsibility that comes with it.”
He said he was fortunate he got to demonstrate his skills during the interim appointment and felt “incredibly privileged” that he stood out, while other candidates dropped off.
“My focus has just been on turning up every week doing the best job that I can for the business and the game and like a player you let the results take care of themselves …I’ve always felt confident I could do the job from the day I stepped into it,” Lancaster said.
Steve Lancaster represented Canterbury and the Crusaders from 1996-2000. Photo: ALAN_LEE
He believed his long tenure as GM of community rugby meant he had a very good understanding of the game from grass roots, which he felt was important.
Lancaster said the sport faced challenges, but also opportunities.
“The game is incredibly well positioned, we’ve got a healthy balance sheet, we’ve got a really strong participation base, we’ve got really competitive teams in black that are performing well on the world stage and our opportunity is to build from that and grow.”
Meanwhile, Kirk said he was comfortable with the financial health of the organisation after its latest financial results were revealed at Thursday’s annual general meeting in Wellington.
NZR reported a net loss of $7.5 million for 2025, despite record total income of $304.2m.
The organisation also reported an operating profit of $700,000, which reflected its day to day operating costs.
Kirk said the net loss was money spent on investing in things beyond normal expenditure. He said those investments will help with their growth strategy and NZR had a strong reserves position to be able to do that.
RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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