Fee dispute puts Lempriere out of shield

Tim Lempriere is out of the shield game because of a dispute between Auckland and Nelson Bays. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Halfback Tim Lempriere lost his chance to play in a Ranfurly Shield challenge today as a dispute between his old Auckland union and new employer Nelson Bays festered.

The provinces are haggling about the size of a loan fee in a wrangle which could see Lempriere, a former Auckland high-performance squad member, left on the sideline for the NPC.

"We have asked for a commercial arrangement," Auckland chief executive David White confirmed yesterday.

Nelson Bays boss Peter Barr said: "It is still in negotiation, and Tim is not playing in the shield game because of it.

"We have contracted him for two years subject to the loan arrangement. The amount is the sticking point. Tim could end up on the sidelines, but we do not want that to be the case."

The usual fee for such a deal is $5000, but it is understood Auckland have requested more before they will release Lempriere.

Lempriere was bracketed with Doug Bursill in the reserves for today's shield challenge against Canterbury in Nelson. However, the loan fee impasse meant Lempriere was scrubbed at Nelson's final training run on Monday.

It has left the 22-year-old Lempriere extremely frustrated because he claimed he was the victim of empty promises from the Auckland coaching staff.

He said inquiries about his Auckland future were either ignored or fudged, so he began to look at deals elsewhere. When he moved to Nelson with plans to play in the shield challenge, Auckland coach Pat Lam rang, saying he was keen for Lempriere to train with the squad for the Lions tour match.

It is understood the New Zealand Rugby Union became involved last week, advising that Auckland had a right to hold Lempriere, but that morally they should allow his release.

A member of Auckland's high-performance squad, Lempriere's path to the NPC side was blocked by Steve Devine, David Gibson, Taniela Moa and others.

Lempriere started to look at ways of getting into next season's new 14-team NPC competition while Auckland vacillated because they were uncertain about Devine's All Black squad chances.

They also knew they would be without Gibson for the NPC after surgery last week to correct a neck problem.

There was never a chance Nelson would trot out their All Black wing Rico Gear for today's match.

"All the provinces gave an undertaking they would not play any All Blacks before the end of the Tri-Nations," Barr said yesterday. "We never considered playing him in this match - but we hope we will get some work out of him later on."