Hawke's Bay celebrating with the Shield in the changing sheds after their victory over Wellington on Saturday. Photo / photosport.nz
Hawke's Bay celebrating with the Shield in the changing sheds after their victory over Wellington on Saturday. Photo / photosport.nz
The coach of the Hawke’s Bay Magpies says he believes he has a near full team available to play this weekend’s NPC quarterfinal, despite after-party shenanigans that ended with the Ranfurly Shield being broken.
When asked if any players would be unavailable as a result of the after-party which endedwith a player being charged with driving with an excessive breath alcohol level after a car crash into a fence and controversy over a photo of powder on a broken half of the log o’ wood, James said as far as he was aware, his players were available for selection.
The Hawke’s Bay Magpies’ weekly press conference was filled with media on Wednesday as a result of the scandal that has dominated headlines around the country over the past three days.
Magpies vice-captain Brad Weber told reporters the team wants to win back the respect of fans as questions and outrage continue to bubble.
Hawke’s Bay Rugby chief executive Jay Campbell confirmed the trophy, broken in two after an incident at a player’s flat on Sunday morning - described as a drop on to a concrete kitchen floor - had been taken by a staff member back to Wellington on Monday.
Weber, filling in for captain Tom Parsons, who he said would take on match-day media commitments, said the players were inside when the Shield was dropped.
He said he wasn’t there when the Shield was dropped and damaged.
“We know the respect that it holds and we’re devastated that it happened.
“We really want to win the respect back of the people that we’ve hurt,” Weber said ahead of this week’s match.
When asked about one of his team members being charged with drink-driving, Weber said he considers the team members as family, so he will be there for that player like anyone else would.
With the issues now in the hands of an NZR-appointed independent investigator, the pieces of the Shield are now being prepared for repairs, but won’t be back in the Bay for celebrations of the type which followed the three other successful challenges in the last decade and the win that started three years of mainly sun-drenched Shield fever in 1966-1969.
“It’s bloody disappointing,” Campbell said, reiterating that in keeping with the traditions of the Shield, the union would have wanted to show it to the community at every opportunity.
He said he “understands the reasons”, but it was something the players have to accept “as a consequence of their actions”.
At present, the union regards as “speculation” conjecture over “white powder” pictured on one half of the broken Shield, but as much as the public wants answers, it also wants to know exactly what’s happened, a result it hopes will be provided by the investigation.
Hawke’s Bay Today understands there were people other than team members among those at the house.
The team is due to play an NPC quarter-final against Bay of Plenty in Tauranga on Sunday.
“The [NZR] investigation has already started, but the team has trained today [Tuesday] and has to now be 100 per cent focused on this game,” he said.
“We want answers as much as everyone else,” he said, reiterating players and staff were “devastated” by what had happened. “People might think we’re trying to brush it under the carpet - far from it.”
An image was shared with what appears to be a white powder on the broken Ranfurly Shield.
New Zealand Rugby confirmed in a statement on Tuesday it would appoint an independent investigator “as part of this, and they will look to establish the facts relating to the substance”.
“As part of the investigation, we also expect that the facts around how the Shield was cared for to be established.”
Conjecture continues about the powdery substance on the Shield, with its recent renovator James Dwan speculating yesterday it could have been plaster placed under the Shield’s badges during the restoration.
