Tasman files challenge

Tasman has filed a notice of appeal challenging the New Zealand Rugby Union's decision-making process concerning proposed changes to next season's domestic premier competition.

With the NZRU having declared its intention to reduce next year's premier domestic competition from 14 to 10 teams, including the promotion of two Heartland unions to form a second tier six-team division one competition, Tasman is widely tipped to be one of the four teams facing the chop.

However, Tasman chairman Nick Patterson confirmed that the union filed an appeal with the NZRU last Friday challenging the criteria used to determine the four teams to be axed and the process by which the decision was made to change the competition format. The union is still awaiting formal notification from the NZRU that the documents had been received.

He said that under the NZRU's constitution, unions have the right to appeal any board decisions and that if accepted, it would go before the appeals committee for determination.

"It's all part of the strategy that we're trying to put in place to make the rugby administration really just wake up and look at what the New Zealand public wants," said Patterson.

He said Tasman was questioning the viability of the proposed new competition structure.

"We're saying that we don't believe that's in the best interests of New Zealand rugby," he said.

"We don't believe there's enough security in the second team competition at this stage and we don't think it has an absolute mandate from the provincial unions in general and also that it didn't have appropriate regard for the financial sustainability of the competition."

There were also concerns regarding the criteria for entry into this year's Air New Zealand Cup competition which required the 14 provincial unions to sign an agreement of participation, a provision of which being that the unions agreed not to challenge the criteria.

"We're saying that effectively we signed this under duress and one of the clauses in there was that we could not challenge the `reasonableness' of the ranking system, not knowing at that stage what the ranking system exactly may be."

Tasman is also questioning the NZRU's decision to change their previous determination to reduce the automatic promotion-relegation process from two teams to one.

"The relief that we are seeking is for the decisions as specified to be modified or changed to such an extent that a 14-team competition is retained for 2010 and/or the Tasman Rugby Union is retained in the Air New Zealand Cup competition for 2010.

"So we've started that process rolling with a view that there are likely to be some other unions that will come on board with an appeal in their own right."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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