Nelson eye promotion and amalgamation

1.00pm

It has been seven years since a Northland rugby team has played at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.

For the record, in 1997 Northland won 80-7 on their way to an unbeaten march to become second division champions.

But no matter what the result of the NPC promotion-relegation match between Northland and Nelson Bays on Saturday, it might soon become an annual fixture.

Because plans for a new provincial team that combines Nelson Bays and Marlborough may yet see Trafalgar Park become a regular first division venue from 2006.

According to Nelson Bays chief executive Peter Barr, plans are well advanced for a new provincial team that combines the second division forces of Nelson Bays and Marlborough to be part of a new NPC format the New Zealand Rugby Union hope to start in 2006.

It is part of a carefully designed project Barr hopes will usher in a new era of rugby prosperity for the sport in the top half of the South Island.

It is also an intriguing sidelight to what looms as Northland's most important rugby assignment since they won that second division title seven years ago.

"First of all, to beat Northland this coming Saturday is certainly not impossible, but certainly a very tall order" Barr said.

"You only have to see what happened to Hawke's Bay last year when it finished with a huge winning scoreline to Northland.

"But no matter what happens on Saturday we are keen to put a proposal to the New Zealand Rugby Union for inclusion in 2006.

"If we (Nelson Bays) join with Marlborough we have a joint population base of about 130,000. That's larger than some of the second division unions currently."

"So we have been working with them (Marlborough) for some considerable time and we have a project manager in place working with both unions."

So for Barr, the timing of the Nelson Bays revival couldn't be better. Not that it has come as a surprise to him though.

A strategic plan plotted four years ago had a second division title pencilled in for Nelson Bays in 2004, supported by several behind the scenes initiatives that he says have sparked renewed enthusiasm for the code in the province.

Riding on the back of seven consecutive appearances in the second division semifinals, Nelson Bays have been one of the few unions to experience an increase in player numbers in age group rugby every year for the past five years.

A development programme run by former All Black Matt Sexton is identifying youthful rugby talent and enabling the union to hold on to players who would otherwise head north to Wellington or south to Christchurch.

The next logical step, Barr said, was to move into the first division.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)

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