Shield move fails

Press, 10 April 1987, Page 38

Shield move fails

PA Wellington A move which would have forced Ranfurly Shield holders to defend the trophy away from home against second and third division sides was defeated at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday. The Wanganui union wanted teams which had held the shield for more than one complete season to have to defend it on the home ground of one second division and two third division sides each season. It was a move, said the Wanganui union chairman, Brian Vaughan, prompted by the financial hardship of minor unions.

“We are sick and tired of begging, borrowing and bludging for money,” he said. Shield rules at present state that a shield holder, after a tenure of two full seasons, may defend the shield at the challenger’s ground, but there is no obligation to do that, and it has not been done since 1926. The shield has not been outside the three main centres since 1981, and Mr Vaughan said Wanganui’s remit would allow minor unions to snare some of the shield’s financial windfall. However, the Auckland union’s chairman, Malcolm Dick, said the aura and tradition which sur-

rounded the shield would be eroded if it had to be defended away from home. A better way to solve the hardships of minor unions would be to restructure the financing of the national provincial championship, he said. This approach, also desired by Wanganui, was not taken up, however, and the remit was lost on a voice count after little debate. Richie Guy, chairman of the N.Z.R.U.’s coaching committee, later suggested that minor unions should seek professional advice to gain the sponsorship needed to overcome their financial problems.