New Highlanders board member Mike Eagle says he is not a white knight appointed to save the franchise but believes it is imperative Super rugby is alive and performing in the south of the South Island.
Eagle (62) was appointed to the Highlanders board for an interim period as the New Zealand Rugby Union's representative, and said there was no fixed period on how long his role would be with the board.
The New Zealand Rugby Union had agreed to underwrite the franchise for the next two years, but Eagle denied the franchise had two years to sort itself out or it would be out of business.
Eagle, who owns an electrical business, Melray Electric Ltd in Christchurch, was formerly the chairman of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union and the Crusaders franchise, and is now a board member of the New Zealand Rugby Union, representing the southern region.
Eagle said the national union was committed to keeping franchise rugby in the south of the South Island, and that was the driver behind him getting involved.
"The New Zealand Rugby Union does not want to see rugby suffering down there.
"It is for the good of New Zealand rugby to have a strong franchise in the bottom half of the South Island," Eagle said.
"Winning games would really help, but to win games on the field you have to have things right off the field."
Eagle had been involved with the Crusaders from the start and he said their success was due in part to getting the right people.
"You've got to remember in 1996 we finished dead last.
"We just went away and said that was not good enough.
"We went and put some policies in place and made sure we did not finish last again.
"We went and got good people and good coaches, a good management team, and it went from there."
Eagle said that did not mean the wrong people were involved with the Highlanders, and he said coach Glenn Moore was highly rated by the national union.
"I'm going down there with a clean sheet and I'll listen for a while and make some changes if we need to make any."
He said his role was confined to governance, so he would not be picking the team or guiding practices.
"But something is not working down there and from a New Zealand rugby point of view we need to make the franchise financially viable.
"If the franchise fell over I think it would be devastating for the sport in the South.
"Once you lose something, you will struggle to get it back."
Eagle said the franchise was not on a two-year watch, but new policies would have to be considered and brought in quickly, if needed.
He was yet to attend a Highlanders board meeting and said had not yet met all board members.
In the background, there was also a franchise review going on at the moment, he said.
