CEO Mark Robinson had flicked on the warning sirens even before Covid-19 blasted a massive hole in NZ Rugby's cash reserves.

Finding ways to save money and stave off multiple threats to the sport was why NZ Rugby engaged consultancy company McKinsey to conduct a review after Robinson had officially replaced Steve Tew as the head of NZ Rugby in early January.

Now those problems seem trivial in comparison to the havoc created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Review of Rugby will have to wait as NZ Rugby scrambles to limit the damage to the professional and community arms of its game.

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES All Blacks star Beauden Barrett has suggested professional players in New Zealand should be prepared to accept a drop in salary as NZ Rugby faces a major financial crisis caused by Covid-19.

When Sanzaar suspended Super Rugby on March 15, followed by the Government introducing a four-week lockdown, NZ Rugby was left no option but to shut down all rugby for the foreseeable future.

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Rarely, if ever, has the national game faced a crisis of this magnitude.

So now what?

NZ Rugby should survive this, but like many sports businesses around the globe it will be exposed to catastrophic financial losses as vital funding from key partners such as broadcaster Sky and other commercial partners dries up.

ANDREW CORNAGA/PHOTOSPORT NZ Rugby boss Mark Robinson says Super Rugby will not make a return in the near future.

There was an air of inevitability about NZ Rugby having to force staff to be hit in their wallets. NZR staff (including All Blacks management and the board) have taken a 20 per cent pay cut, which was able to be kept at that figure thanks to the Government wage subsidy.

Discussions with contracted players continue and a declaration about a reduction in their wages is imminent.

Premiership club players in England are facing a reduction of up to 25 percent in their salaries, and NZ Rugby could see that as a starting point when addressing its All Blacks and Super Rugby players.

All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Dane Coles have acknowledged players should be prepared to accept a reduction in income, and NZ Rugby Players Association boss Rob Nichol has stated his organisation is not "naive" when it comes to this issue.

NZ Rugby, which pays the wages of the All Blacks and Super Rugby players, allows Super Rugby clubs to have a salary cap of up to around $4.6 million to spend on players.

Top Super Rugby players can be paid $195,000, and third-party deals can be tagged on to that. All Blacks and provincial wages don't come under that bracket.

There is a risk that reduced salaries might push players away. But offshore clubs will also experience financial hardship which will likely offset some movement.

The best way for NZ Rugby to trade its way out of this is for competitions to be re-started, but the uncertainty about when this can happen adds to the anxiety.

ANDY JACKSON/STUFF All Blacks such as Vaea Fifita will be bracing for a drop in wages as NZ Rugby searches for ways to reduce the expenditure in the wake of Covid-19.

With no Super Rugby for an indefinite period NZ Rugby can't provide broadcaster Sky with content, leading to the latter turning off the money tap. Just when that can be turned back on is anyone's guess.

The domestic tests against Wales and Scotland, to be played in July, are in doubt and Sky won't be interested in forking over money for something it can't beam into its customers' living rooms.

If there's no tests there can be no tickets sold to fans or commercial deals honoured, meaning NZ Rugby will also miss out on millions of dollars on that score.

A bailout package of $1.25 million has been divided between the five Super Rugby clubs, and provincial unions have had their guaranteed provincial unions payments for April but there is uncertainty about how much money will be funnelled their way in the future.

The $250,000 to each Super Rugby club will have been appreciated, but the reality is it's simply not enough. Highlanders CEO Roger Clark told Newshub it costs more than $500,000 a month to rub a Super Rugby club, and his organisation has already frozen expenditure and cut salaries by 30 percent. Other clubs are likely to follow suit as the grim battle to survive is ramped up.

By putting a halt on other budgets NZ Rugby hopes to save around $20 million. Other casualties include the Heartland Championship, the national sevens tournament and all representative rugby below the Mitre 10 and Farah Palmer Cups.

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES New All Blacks coach Ian Foster may not be able to guide his team against Wales and Scotland in the domestic test series in July.

How does NZ Rugby trade its way out of this?

Here's what we know, for starters.

At its annual meeting in April last year NZ Rugby announced a loss of $1.9 million for the 2018 financial year, and it's expected to post a multi-million dollar loss for 2019 due to the Rugby Championship being reduced to one round and there being no inbound test series before the World Cup.

Even before Covid-19 struck, NZ Rugby had forecast a similar outcome for 2020. On the plus side its financial report for the year ended December 31 2018 states NZ Rugby had almost $104 million in net assets, including term investments of $70.5 million and $19.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, so there's a significant war chest to dip into.

NZ Rugby noted it had reinvested a record $191 million in rugby in this country (fuelled by the profits of the British and Irish Lions series in 2017) and that the financial result was ahead of budget, but warned there were "challenges ahead".

The largest investments were the $63 million spent on the player payment pool, and the $32 million that was invested into the 26 provincial unions.

That was before the arrival of Covid-19, which has changed the narrative completely.

Can World Rugby assist?

World Rugby has asked the tier-one nations to open their books, in the knowledge that these powerhouse unions help rake in the bulk of the game's revenue through test matches.

NZ Rugby could face a shortfall of more than $100 million if no rugby is played this year. The England Rugby Football Union has said it could lose up to $100 million in the next financial year and Rugby Australia, which has stood down 75 percent of its staff, could bleed $90 million if the 2020 season is a write-off.

World Rugby has yet to reveal how much it made out of the World Cup in Japan last year, but chief executive Brett Gosper said last September that earnings were expected to exceed $716 million.

World Rugby pocketed $380 million from the tournament in Britain four years earlier, but it's believed the Japan tournament earned around $330 million because of the costs involved in staging the event in Asia.

If NZ Rugby can send the All Blacks on the northern tour later this year, it may ask World Rugby to intervene and insist it can get a slice of the income from those games.

NZ Rugby has previously got the cold shoulder when it's asked for revenue-sharing agreements to be introduced. It may insist that now is the time for change.

It would be naive, however, not to expect staunch resistance from their northern counterparts on this contentious issue.

What happens with NZ Rugby and Sky?

Last year NZ Rugby and Sky signed a new deal through to 2025, worth a reported $400 million.

The two parties are largely hog-tied to each other and will be working closely to prevent the haemorrhaging of money; they will no doubt be observing how other professional sports bodies around the world are working with their broadcasters and commercial partners to solve these massive problems.

There is potential, perhaps, for NZ Rugby and Sky to re-negotiate the terms of the recent contract to help each other through this crisis.

Can the NZ Government help?

On Thursday, Sports Minister Grant Robertson also said the Government was looking to provide immediate relief to sports organisations battling to stay afloat during the shutdown. As well there would be a recovery package to offer medium-term solutions.

Potentially. Robertson has said the Covid-19 financial relief package would be extended to incorporated societies which means NZ Rugby has been eligible for wage subsidies.

NZ Rugby will likely make it clear to the Government that the All Blacks brand has been a marketing tool not just for their own organisation, but also for the country, for many years.

The survival of NZ Rugby will ensure its flagship team - the All Blacks - continues to function on the world stage.

The amount of attention the team generates when it leaves these shores shouldn't be underestimated.

Anyone who has travelled to watch the All Blacks perform in other countries will attest to this. It is a powerful publicity machine for New Zealand as a whole, not just NZ Rugby.

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What about the community game?

When initial findings of the Review of Rugby were shared NZ Rugby said there was potential for a baseline of $20m-$30m per annum to be reinvested into the game if it grew revenue and removed inefficiencies.

Forget that for now.

NZ Rugby, and everyone involved in the game at all levels, is thinking about how they can remain solvent.

Robinson will know that the grass roots must be sheltered as much as possible from this financial storm.

All club rugby across the land has already been suspended until further notice. Clubs are going to suffer; whether it be from a lack of bar takings or fundraisers; they, like everyone else, will bear the brunt of Covid-19.

Any relief package signed-off by the Government may come with the proviso that a certain percentage of it must go into a pool reserved for the provincial unions and clubs. Some communities, especially rural ones, are built around these organisations.

If these sections of the game are allowed to shrivel up, and some provinces were already battling before the arrival of the virus, it would be a devastating blow to a game already under siege.