New format for senior rugby

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 72

New format for senior rugby

Senior club rugby in Christchurch will be played under a new format this year, the Canterbury Rugby Union decided at a meeting last evening. Although a change from the finals system which has functioned for 10 years was not popular, most members agreed that special circumstances made a new format desirable.

The special circumstances relate mainly to the new South Pacific championship which will

have Canterbury playing five matches from early April to mid-May.

While the new format was approved last evening it will still be put to the annual meeting of the union next week. However, most clubs have been consulted and it is not expected to run into much opposition.

The new format allows for a preliminary competition for the Trusteebank Cup. The 16 teams will be divided into two sections of equal strength (based on last year’s per-

formances) and the section winners will meet in a final under lights on May 14. This competition will begin on April 5. The main championship for the Trusteebank Trophy will begin after the Cup round has been completed and will be a full round-robin of 15 games. The last round will be on either August 23 or 24.

While a number of speakers, in particular Mr Murray Cooper, lamented the passing of a finals day at the end of the season,

there was only one dissenting voice, that of Mr Vic Thomas, when the motion for a change was put.

To questions, the chairman, Mr Merv Barnett, said that the South Pacific competition was being played on a two-year trial system and if the clubs wanted to there was no reason why finals could not be reintroduced either next year or the year after.

The competitions chairman, Mr Murray 'fnglis, said his committee had

studied the question very closely and it felt that the suggested change was the best way to run the 1986 competition. The new format, he said, would meet the need of giving all senior players more games — three more, in fact — than they got under the former system.

It was decided to enter two Canterbury teams in the Fresh-up inter-provin-cial sevens tournament. Both will contest the region four elimination at Timaru on March 1.