There's a call for an independent process to be created to ensure the appointment of an appropriately skilled, high-performing New Zealand Rugby board.
An independent review found the constitution and consequent governance structures needed a revamp, as they were not fit for purpose in the modern era.
David Pilkington chaired the four-person review panel, and told Checkpoint the challenges facing the game today needed a different approach.
"It is a system that is trying to preside over a business that has changed dramatically with the introduction of professional rugby, with the introduction of Silverlake as an equity partner."
He said NZR increasingly depended on revenue from the All Blacks alone.
The report concluded that the current NZR constitution and consequent governance structures were not fit for purpose in the modern era.
Pilkington said the board appointment process was convoluted and did not attract people with a combination of skills, knowledge and experience.
"You've got a system where most of the nominations and most of the vetting of who goes on to the board comes via a process dominated by our provincial unions.
"And it's only natural that those people want people that look like them and sound like them.
"The process we're proposing is to say 'no, let's step away from that. Let's look at the skills required and let's get a professional appointments panel that ensures that the people go on have the skills and capability of dealing with these range of challenges they face'.
"Whether it's a deliberate bias or a consequence of the way the process works, either way, they're not getting the best people to put themselves forward."
Further, he said not many people watched rugby anymore.
"For a lot of people, they find there's far too much rugby on TV.
"I think people are busy. There's a lot more options in terms of what people do in their leisure time and what they watch, and I think it is fair to say that for a lot of people, they have been turned off watching rugby in the same way they used to.
"It is fair to say, however, that viewing numbers through television haven't declined anywhere near as much as the spectator attendance at stadia so you know people are happier to watch rugby if they're going to watch rugby from their own home than go to a cold dark stadium and on a Friday or Saturday night."
