A family death and a once-in-a-century storm in Canterbury meant some of Wanganui's leading Maori players were not able to get the buildup to the start of the season they were craving today.
The game between Central Zone Maori and Southern Maori in Christchurch was cancelled when the plans, maderecently, for where the teams were staying fell through due to the venue being required for a large funeral gathering.
"There was a death so the accommodation was unavailable for 70-plus players," said WRFU chief executive Dale Cobb.
"With Christchurch under water, it probably impacted on their ability to get [other] accommodation."
Wanganui's Junior Tume, Vance Pereka, Che Barlow and Jamie Hughes had all been selected for Te Tini a Maui (Central), while Gerrard Paki, Sean van der Lubbe and Paora Heremia were going to play in the curtain raiser for the Central Colts team.
