Ruapehu rugby has yet another win, but this time off the paddock.
The Tasman Tanning premier Wanganui rugby championship winning side and current competition leaders this year, successfully argued to have the qualifying rules surrounding the Weekes Cup competition changed back to last season's format. The Weekes Memorial Cup is won by the club with the best record in both premier and senior grades each season.
When a Marist-driven initiative culminated in a change to the rules in December last year allowing clubs to field more than one team per grade and all be eligible for cup points, Ruapehu disagreed and threatened to pull out of the competition. The Wanganui Rugby Union Council of Clubs' December meeting voted 4-3 in favour of the Marist initiative.
Ruapehu argued the smaller and more remote northern Wanganui clubs had little hope of finding the numbers to field multiple teams in any grade reducing their chances of accumulating enough points to win a cup.
That stance gained support at Tuesday night's Council of Clubs meeting in Hunterville and a 7-2 vote now means clubs can only have one team per grade eligible for Weekes Cup points.
Marist and Kaierau were the only two clubs to vote against reversing the December decision.
Ruapehu president and Northern Wanganui sub-union delegate Bruce Cranston said his club was pleased with the decision and confirmed Ruapehu would now happily compete for the cup.
Marist club secretary Clark Allan said his committee disagreed with the decision with many believing it was against sections of the Wanganui Rugby Union constitution surrounding promoting the game. Others believed those sections could be interpreted differently than Marist had.
"If they want to change the rules midway through the season, it's open slather to change anything you like - we disagree with Tuesday's decision," Allan said yesterday.
During the meeting, Cranston suggested another cup be introduced to reward those clubs actively promoting the game and attracting more people, whether they be players, coaches, referees or administrators.
Wanganui Rugby Union chief executive Dale Cobb said the Cranston suggestion had plenty of merit and the union would certainly look to utilise one of its many now defunct trophies in the cabinet to reward clubs actively promoting the game.
"Last night's meeting was a very positive meeting and showed there was a proper forum to allow delegates to debate and discuss critical issues facing the game. There was also a number who felt there was a need to reward those clubs actively promoting the game and attracting more people and I'm certain the union will look at that suggestion. We have a lot of trophies in the cabinet no longer in use and one of those could be brought back to life," Cobb said.
There are two distinct ironies to arise from the Weekes Memorial Cup debate. The first is that this seasons despite fielding a premier side and two senior teams Marist has little chance of wresting the Cup from Ruapehu which has held it for the last three consecutive years. The second is that the cup itself is missing.
Cobb said it hasn't physically been sighted for the last four years.
"Despite winning it for the last three years Ruapehu has not sighted it - it's missing. We are urging all clubs that have won it previously to search their trophy cabinets or we will have to have another one made," Cobb said.