New Zealand Rugby is using technology and analysis to help detect match-fixing across all Test, Investec Super Rugby and ITM Cup matches. The Fraud Detection System developed by Sportradar will be employed across matches over the next two years. New Zealand Rugby GM Neil Sorensen said while there was no evidence match-fixing was a problem in New Zealand, there was no room for complacency. Sorensen said, "We want rugby to remain clean and this technology underlines our determination to ensure it stays that way. We’ve seen examples of match fixing in other codes overseas so we need to take steps to ensure we remain vigilant to the possibility here" (New Zealand Rugby). The DOMINION POST's Toby Robson wrote up until now "the extent of NZ Rugby's efforts to guard against illegal betting has been to ban its staff and players from betting on matches, and to monitor their TAB accounts." Investing in Sportradar "was not a direct response to Super Rugby's move into Japan, but Sorensen said it was accepted rugby's push into new territories, particularly through sevens, would make it more susceptible to illegal betting." Sorensen: "We would have done it anyway, but it's no secret that South East Asia is massive in terms of illegal book making and the markets up there are ginormous. It would be naive to think if Super Rugby is beamed into Japan, South East Asia, parts of China, that it is not something they [illegal gamblers] could move into" (DOMINION POST, 2/19).
