Any rugby fan in New Zealand should be thrilled at the news that the rugby union has managed to stitch a deal together with Silver Lake despite all that opposition. 

As controversial as some tried to paint this deal, it never was. 

Silver Lake was always the only real potential partner for the rugby union. 

That Forsyth Barr backed idea of selling 5% to mum and dad investors was a joke. 

And it wasn’t an option to do nothing. A deal was always necessary. 

There was no way the rugby union could continue as it was financially. 

Most years it runs at a loss. 

Last year: nearly 35 million dollars. 

The year before: 7-and-a-half million dollars.  

The year before: 2 million dollars. 

Something needed to change.   

Silver Lake brings the money abd – more importantly – the expertise to take the All Blacks to the world and hopefully tap into millions more eyeballs out there, which means more much needed dollars to at least try to turn those losses into profits. 

If you cast your mind back, you’ll remember all the drama and hysteria from the players association and various rugby veterans about why NZR shouldn’t take this deal. 

You have to wonder if that helped them get a better deal. 

Because looking at it, it’s hard to say it helped much. 

Sure, there are a few technical changes here and there, and NZR is prepared to invite in some local institutional investors.  

But ultimately, they’re ending up with less money than they had before. The original offer from Silver Lake was 465m dollars. The final deal is only 200 m. That’s a lot less money to put into Rugby NZ. 

So, is it better? Probably not, but after all that hysteria, at least it’s something.