NZRU U-turn frustrating for Whanganui

Whanganui coach Guy Lennox said it felt like the "rug had been pulled from under our feet" when the New Zealand Rugby Union last week decided to ditch its plan for a six-team first division.

The Waverley farmer said the sudden U-turn by the national body in adopting a proposed seven-seven split of the 14-team Air New Zealand Cup unions from 2011, instead of its original 10-6-10 plan, had ended months of planning for Whanganui.

"It certainly came as a surprise and we're pretty gutted about it. It looks like we've got no future of ever getting out of this thing [Heartland Championship] now."

While Lennox believed Whanganui would have found it difficult to step up from the Heartland Championship to the six-team division one competition, playing teams such as Manawatu and Northland, he said the union could have adapted and improved significantly after its first season.

"We don't feel betrayed, just frustrated," he said, before adding that up until a week before the announcement his union was being told that the division one concept was going ahead.

A finalist along with New Zealand under-20 and Manawatu coach Dave Rennie, Canterbury's Rob Penney and the Chiefs' Ian Foster in the coach of the year category at the New Zealand rugby awards last week, Lennox was nevertheless keen to continue in his role with Whanganui.

Having coached the side to back-to-back Meads Cup wins, the former representative five-eighth also wants to continue coaching the Heartland XV.

"There's some talk that the side could tour next year, which would be great," he said.

Lennox said it was vitally important for New Zealand rugby that the Heartland players had a representative side to aspire to. "You still see they have got a real pride in the jersey they pull on. It's still a real buzz for them," he said.

While the high number of ineligible Pacific Islanders playing in the Heartland Championship meant the side was never a true form 15 from the lower divisions, Lennox believed it still provided young players with a valuable insight as to what was required to compete at the next level of the sport.

One player who will be missing from his Whanganui side next year is exciting outside back Waisake Ratunideuba, 18, who has signed on to the Taranaki rugby academy.

A rising star of the Heartland competition, Lennox believed the teenager could have benefited from another season in the Whanganui environment before shifting to Taranaki.

"Saying that, Wai will get a lot of key learning, stuff like nutrition and that, ... in Taranaki," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News