One of the truly great All Blacks goes unnoticed by passers-by as he sits outside an old-fashioned Mayfair pub just around the corner from The Ritz. The hustle and bustle of the heart of London – as Christmas shoppers dance around the city's business gurus – suits Andrew Mehrtens to a tee.
![[Mehrtens scored 967 points for New Zealand during a 70-Test career between 1995 and 2004]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/19/93206767-14198941-image-a-78_1734377380973.jpg)
He is used to being busy. On the day we meet, the now 51-year-old former fly-half has just arrived from Paris via Eurostar following meetings with French rugby officials. Mehrtens, one of the best No 10's to have ever played the game, was effortlessly languid on the field. He spent his time trying to avoid the big hitters.
![[Mehrtens and F1 entrepreneur Eddie Jordan, pictured (left) next to Sebastian Vettel in 2016, are part of a group that could become rugby's answer to the Man City ownership model]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/19/93206975-14198941-image-m-80_1734377561119.jpg)
These days, he is one of them off the pitch, combining his sporting gravitas and finance interest as a central part of a consortium looking at acquiring several rugby clubs across the world. Mehrtens, alongside Formula 1 entrepreneur Eddie Jordan and ex-South Africa No 8 Bobby Skinstad, have the potential to be a rugby equivalent of sorts to the City Football Group – whose teams include Premier League giants Manchester City, Girona, New York City and Melbourne City. There is no such current model of shared ownership in rugby.
![[Bobby Skinstad, pictured playing for Transvaal Cats in 2003, is also involved in the venture]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/19/93207059-14198941-image-m-82_1734377788060.jpg)
Former All Blacks fly-half Andrew Mehrtens recently spoke to Mail Sport in Mayfair, London. Mehrtens scored 967 points for New Zealand during a 70-Test career between 1995 and 2004. At the start of November, Mehrtens, Jordan and Skinstad took their first steps by taking a controlling stake in French second division side Beziers, where Mehrtens ended his playing career.
![[Mehrtens and his partners could eventually build something like the City Football Group]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/19/93206779-14198941-image-a-83_1734377900211.jpg)
