One $20 note in dirty laundry

OPINION: This national provincial championship rugby competition shake-up has developed into a mess, writes Logan Savory in this week's Sav's Say.

There's little doubting that.

The New Zealand Rugby Union has proposed to cut the current 14-team premier provincial competition to 10.

To be frank it has gone down as well as my stint sunbathing at the beach on Sunday: it has turned heads and created plenty of frowns.

Pot shots have been fired at the New Zealand Rugby Union from all over the place and unions that are under the gun for a possible chop have threatened legal action.

Supporters all over the country are outraged that various teams are being mooted to be axed.

It is bad blood that was never needed. It adds to the aftermath of the 2007 World Cup failure and the confusion about the rules of the game of rugby.

Our national game has turned into a squabble.

But hidden away in this messy load of laundry is a $20 note that we've all forgotten about – a nice surprise, you could say.

Amongst the bickering about what direction the provincial setup should go down has been a pocket of fresh air.

The rugby public in this country finally woke up this year and it was all because the NZRU threatened to take away its favourite toy.

The provincial game is what this country loves and the outrage that has been caused following the announcement that the Air New Zealand Cup could be downsized has highlighted that in neon letters.

The NZRU could announce it will name the New Zealand Super 14 teams after past Australian prime ministers, shift all the Super 14 games to India and downsize the competition to seven teams.

You'd be unlikely to hear much more than a peep from the rugby fraternity if all this took place. Few people in this country have more than a passing interest in it.

However, adjust our top national provincial game, NZRU, and the rugby public will hit you with a ton of bricks from many different directions.

If Steve Tew and his mates at rugby HQ didn't know where the passion lies in rugby I'm sure they do now. You can manufacture ways to please sponsors and television companies all you like by amalgamating teams and calling them the Highlanders, Blues or Hurricanes, but people aren't dumb, Steve.

Passion can't be manufactured – the sort of passion that unions like Southland, Manawatu, Hawke's Bay and Northland have within their supporters.

logan.savory@stl.co.nz

» Logan Savory is a former Southland cricket representative who was named New Zealand junior sportswriter of the year at the 2007 TP McLean journalism awards. His main rounds are cricket and rugby.

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