Two ruled out for Harbour

By WYNNE GRAY and NZPA

North Harbour's mixed start to the season suffered further trauma yesterday with two players ruled out of the local derby against Auckland through injury.

Midfield back Scott Adams broke his jaw in a training accident and flanker Brent Wilson damaged his knee cartilage against Bay of Plenty in the opening 22-16 defeat.

"It was just a freak collision with Scott," Harbour coach Russell Jones. lamented.

"It was during a defensive session and a standard tackle when a guy fell over him and a boot swiped him across the face. It did not appear anything significant."

Harbour's backline rearrangement will involve either Anthony Tuitavake or Andrew Meili, who has represented Tonga.

The loose-forward shuffle will probably reintroduce NZ Maori representative Matua Parkinson.

The injury woes are not confined to Harbour, with Auckland's outstanding openside flanker Daniel Braid unable to train yesterday because of illness.

However, he and Angus Macdonald (hamstring) are expected to be selected when the neighbours announce their sides today.

If Braid does not recover, former national sevens flanker Craig de Goldi would take his place.

* Graydon Staniforth has been called into fullback for Southland against Otago in Invercargill on Saturday in the only major change from the team who lost to Wellington.

Staniforth, older brother of former Wallabies wing Scott Staniforth, played on the wing against Wellington as a late replacement for Mana Harrison. With Harrison fit again after spraining an ankle pre-season, Staniforth replaces James Jowsey, who will be on the bench.

* New Zealand and Australian officials hope to negotiate a better deal for fans shut out of the World Cup by high ticket prices.

All Black fans should know later this week whether they will have access to cheaper tickets for the tournament, starting in Australia in October.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Chris Moller is waiting for the IRB to respond to the joint plea for a more accessible pricing structure. New Zealand has been allocated about 75,000 tickets, but their prices could see most unsold.

"The Australian Rugby Union has an agreement with the IRB that signals the number of tickets available to New Zealand, and the key question is whether they can come at an affordable price," Moller said.

"Even the face-value prices, from A$75 [$83.96] for a pool match to A$585 [$654] for the best seat at the final, are high in the New Zealand context."

Christchurch travel agents are also calling for a review of the pricing policy forced upon them.

Under the present arrangement, put in place by the IRB, the New Zealand tickets can only be bought as part of a package. These start at $2995 and climb to $10,995.

The packages include air travel on a stipulated carrier, Qantas, high hotel prices for a set number of nights, and a World Cup licensing fee of about $1000.

Tony Moffatt, the commercial director of House of Travel Holdings in Christchurch, said the companies in the group were keen to see the prices of World Cup packages reduced and were eagerly awaiting the results of discussions between the NZRU, the ARU and the IRB.