Mexted firm on unions stand

Former All Black Murray Mexted has no regrets about making his stand in support of the four endangered unions, including Manawatu, last year.

It has been at some personal cost. One of his employers, Sky Television, stood him down as a commentator last year.

"I am a bit out of favour because of my stand. I will be doing matches but not as much as in the past," he said.

Mexted publicly argued last year for the 14 premier competition teams and the New Zealand infrastructure to be retained. If the cut had been made, he said, it would have meant a 29 per cent drop in the number of premier players.

He has been working on television for 17 years.

Mexted said he continued to believe in the stand he made last year in support of retaining Manawatu, Tasman, Counties-Manukau and Northland in the Air New Zealand Cup competition.

"I believe seriously in the good it [the competition] does for the good of the country," he said. "I couldn't believe the naivety of the New Zealand Rugby Union."

Mexted said he had an affinity with Manawatu stretching back seven years since he started bringing his International Rugby Academy New Zealand (IRANZ) courses to Massey University.

He will be staging another IRANZ dinner, on February 11, at Massey, with speakers including Wayne Shelford, Christian Cullen, Anton Oliver, Jeff Wilson, Grant Fox, former Springbok captain Joost van der Westhuizen and 13 positional coaches.

The dinner profits raise funds for players to attend his IRANZ coaching courses. Three Manawatu players attended last year and Manawatu has three more entered next week.

He was "really disappointed" to hear one of his IRANZ course graduates, Manawatu fullback Kurt Baker, had taken advice to transfer to Taranaki.

"I feel for Manawatu because I know how much effort they put into developing Manawatu players."

Tickets for the IRANZ dinner, held in a marquee at the Sport and Rugby Institute, are $100 for women and $150 for men.

Mexted also hopes IRANZ will soon provide sevens coaching courses around the international circuit, especially for second-tier nations.

- © Fairfax NZ News