As chair of New Zealand Rugby (NZR), Brent Impey felt compelled to respond on behalf of the national governing body and its people to the Stuff column by Mark Reason on November 4.

OPINION: Making allegations comparing New Zealand Rugby with Cricket Australia, and effectively transposing the findings of a detailed investigation into another organisation in another country is misleading and mischievous.

As a matter of principle, I strongly defend the media rights of freedom of speech, but also reserve the same right of reply. The record needs correcting, as what Mark Reason has written is not only unfair to people working at NZR, but in my opinion is simply not true.

LOREN DOUGAN/FAIRFAX NZ Stuff columnist Mark Reason.

Using words and phrases such as "corrupting", "winning at all costs" and "divisive and corrosive" is also way out of line and without substantiation. Reason has clearly not bothered to do any research and gives no recognition to the considerable work undertaken by NZR in many of these areas.

Yes, as an organisation, we aim to win. We want to win World Cups and premier events and in fact New Zealand expects nothing less. We do not shy away from wanting to be No 1 in the world. We also want New Zealanders to be inspired by us off-the-field and we want our country to be proud of us.

READ MORE:

* Kieran Read hits back at Eddie Jones

* Preview: All Blacks v England

* ABs v England: What you need to know

There are always challenges balancing the various competing interests between the professional game (which involves 0.3% of our players) and the amateur/community game, between operating in the modern world of social and economic change while respecting the legacies and traditions of our sport. Off the field, we are aiming for a culture of respect and inclusion, whether within NZR, Super clubs, provincial unions, schools or local clubs. We invest heavily to provide holistic support to our athletes and have programmes in place to educate young professional players in many areas such as alcohol and drug use, player behaviour, social media, mental health and financial management.

Reason fails to mention that following incidents in 2016, which NZR was not proud of, we launched the Respect and Responsibility Review, independent of the board and management. The review panel comprised leading and respected sports people, administrators, educationalists and community leaders, with full access to the wider organisation.

The full Respect and Responsibility Review report was published in September 2017. NZR embraced that report and its recommendations and I am proud that we made it a strategic priority for the organisation. An independent advisory panel was established to hold NZR and its board accountable for the review recommendations and progress has been made across many dimensions such as leadership, culture and ethics, diversity, gender, learning and development, alcohol, drugs, supplements, family violence, human respect, gambling etc. All NZR staff are measured on performance across many of these areas. We are doing the very work Reason asks for.

Reason asks a variety of questions such as: "is commercial and sporting success compatible with the maintenance of strong ethical boundaries?" Of course it is, that is the daily objective of all of us at NZR from board to management to all our people. That's what leadership on and off the field is all about.

He also makes a number of recommendations which to those of us at NZR just go to prove he has done little research on how our organisation works. For example, establish a standing committee for ethics and culture - the independent advisory panel was put in place over 12 months ago; publish minutes - following each board meeting I provide a report to all chairs and CEOs of provincial unions with strong transparency and chief executive Steve Tew gives a full media briefing. The matters resolved or discussed at NZR board meetings are shared openly, other than commercially sensitive topics and confidential information such as player contracts.

Reason has no concept of the differences between the amateur and professional game. He suggests "members of All Blacks and Māori teams be excused from playing Super Rugby to the extent necessary for them to play three club rugby games a year". Really? He is suggesting full time professionals with all their strength and conditioning programmes, which make them elite athletes, compete against players who might train for an hour or so each week. This is simply irresponsible thinking in terms of health and safety.

However, it is the allegations of bullying which concern me the most. Reason makes allegations of bullying behaviour from the top, that there is a loss of trust among staff and an intimidating culture.

It is so easy for a columnist to make claims which are general without any specifics or substantiation. This is impossible to answer or defend, as his claims are not attributed nor identifiable to any specific accusation. Sadly, Reason is not aware that we support and encourage any person who feels they have been bullied or intimidated to complain.

NZR has in place an independent Complaints Management Service (phone and email) where complainants can be anonymous when lodging any complaint. This service is available to staff, players, coaches, administrators and all others involved in the game and members of the public. The board receives regular reporting of the incidence and nature of complaints and would take any allegations such as those being made by Reason very seriously, as would any good employer.

I don't expect any apology or correction, as it would mean nothing coming from Mr Reason.