New Zealand Rugby will establish an independent panel to address Black Ferns hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate's allegations against coach Glenn Moore.
NZR chief executive Mark Robinson confirmed on Thursday the organisation are taking the allegations "really seriously" and were finalising its terms of reference for a review into the claims Ngata-Aerengamate made last week.
The 30-year-old wrote a lengthy social media post where she revealed she suffered a "mental breakdown in front of everyone" during the northern tour after years of comments allegedly made by Moore.
One of the more recent alleged comments was that Ngata-Aerengamate, a 32-Test hooker, was only picked to the Black Ferns "to play the guitar".
Robinson said a panel with people from inside and outside rugby will conduct the review. It will be a separate review from the normal campaign reflection the Black Ferns are having after suffering four-straight losses to England and France on their northern tour.
“We're putting the finishing touches on an independent panel with a really broad, impressive cross-section of skills and diversity that we think can bring value into that piece of work,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he hopes the review will be resolved soon, adding he has “a huge amount of sympathy” for Ngata-Aerengamate.
“I know that our people have been in contact with Te Kura to make sure she has got all the support possible at this time,” Robinson said.
“We're understanding of some things that she would like to see as part of this work.”
Robinson didn't confirm if Moore's role was in question but did say the review will determine if a change was needed.
“We have a huge amount of regard for a lot of the work that Glenn has done in our systems over many, many years. He's been a coach with New Zealand Rugby for many years,” Robinson said.
“But we're taking this really seriously. The ability to pause at the moment, have a good review, and understand where we can be better.
“That will be a full review around coaching, the environment and conditioning. All those sorts of things will feed into that and early next month, we will be in a better position to talk further.”
The review is expected to be completed in January before the Black Ferns ramp up their preparations for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
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