One of the "major sponsors of the All Blacks admitted that they have 'despaired' at the controversy that has enveloped the sport" in '16, according to Michael Burgess of the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. ASB Bank CEO Barbara Chapman used her speech at Thursday night's rugby awards to "gently chide New Zealand Rugby after a year of unprecedented success on the field was sullied by a series of regrettable off-field incidents." The Super Rugby League side Chiefs "Strippergate" controversy, the Aaron Smith bathroom incident at Christchurch airport, the homophobic slurs attributed to a Chiefs player and "perhaps worst of all" the Losi Filipo affair -- where the Wellington Rugby Union initially backed Filipo despite his involvement in a "brutal, unprovoked attack" and NZR was "slow to grasp the ramifications of the case -- all cast a negative shadow over the sport." Chapman reminded the New Zealand Rugby Union that such incidents "had not gone unnoticed." Chapman said, "As a New Zealander, and a woman, I share with you the joys and highlights of the game but despair at the controversy which can engulf the sport we all love. In many ways, rugby is a microcosm of New Zealand society; so much good and positive work is done by the rugby community and yet, just like New Zealand society as a whole, there is always more work to be done around building diversity and ensuring people from all backgrounds feel included and valued. ... Rugby, as well as being something we love, is a lightning rod for everything which is good, and a few things which are not good, about New Zealand." Chapman congratulated the NZRU on the appointment of Dr. Farah Palmer to its board, though noted that "it came after nearly 125 years of no women representation." It is "unusual" for a sponsor within the rugby fraternity to air its "dissatisfaction -- albeit very balanced" -- as "most" sponsors associated with the national game over the last few decades have "tended to take a 'see no evil, hear no evil' approach" (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 12/16).
