The coach of the Hawke’s Bay Magpies says he believes he has a near full team available to play this weekend’s NPC quarterfinal, despite after-party shenanigans that ended with the Ranfurly Shield being broken.
When asked if any players would be unavailable as a result of the after-party, which ended with a player being charged with driving with an excessive breath alcohol level after a car crash into a fence, and controversy over a photo of powder on a broken half of the ‘log o’ wood’, James said as far as he was aware, his players were available for selection.
The Hawke’s Bay Magpies’ weekly press conference was filled with media on Wednesday as a result of the scandal that has dominated headlines around the country over the past three days.
Magpies vice-captain Brad Weber told reporters the team wants to win back the respect of fans as questions and outrage continue to bubble.
New Zealand Rugby has started an inquiry, and the shield won’t be locked away in the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union cabinet for the summer.
Hawke’s Bay Rugby chief executive Jay Campbell confirmed the trophy, broken in two after an incident at a player’s flat on Sunday morning - described as a drop on to a concrete kitchen floor - had been taken by a staff member back to Wellington on Monday.
Players inside when shield dropped
Weber, filling in for captain Tom Parsons, who he said would take on match-day media commitments, said the players were inside when the shield was dropped.
He said he wasn’t there when the shield was dropped and damaged.
“I fully trust what they say.”
He wouldn’t speculate on what the white substance that was photographed on the shield was.
Weber said a NZ Rugby investigation was ongoing and he wouldn’t be speculating.
Head coach Brock James said drug testing the team was up to NZ Rugby.
“It is done randomly throughout the year by NZ Rugby.”
James also said the disciplinary action will be left to NZ Rugby.
“Our focus is getting ready for the game.”
James said he was disappointed the Shield was broken, considering how much work they put into winning it.
“It was an accident.”
Hoping for its return
Weber said once the Shield was fixed, he hoped they could bring it back to the Hawke’s Bay community.
“We know the respect that it holds and we’re devastated that it happened.
“We really want to win the respect back of the people that we’ve hurt,” Weber said ahead of this week’s match.
When asked about one of his team members being charged with drink-driving, Weber said he considers the team members as family, so he will be there for that player as anyone else would.
With the issues now in the hands of an NZR-appointed independent investigator, the pieces of the Shield are now being prepared for repairs, but won’t be back in the Bay for celebrations of the type which followed the three other successful challenges in the last decade and the win that started three years of mainly sun-drenched shield fever in 1966-1969.
“It’s bloody disappointing,” Campbell said, reiterating that in keeping with the traditions of the shield, the union would have wanted to show it to the community at every opportunity.
He said he “understands the reasons” but it was something the players have to accept “as a consequence of their actions”.
At present, the union regards as “speculation” conjecture over “white powder” pictured on one half of the broken Shield, but as much as the public wants answers, it also wants to know exactly what’s happened, a result it hopes will be provided by the investigation.
Hawke’s Bay Today understands there were people other than team members among those at the house.
The team is due to play an NPC quarter-final against Bay of Plenty in Tauranga on Sunday.
“The [NZR] investigation has already started, but the team has trained today [Tuesday] and has to now be 100 per cent focused on this game,” he said.
“We want answers as much as everyone else,” he said, reiterating players and staff were “devastated” by what had happened. “People might think we’re trying to brush it under the carpet - far from it.”
White power - plaster?
New Zealand Rugby confirmed in a statement on Tuesday it would appoint an independent investigator “who will look to establish the facts relating to the substance”.
“As part of the investigation, we also expect that the facts around how the shield was cared for to be established.”
Conjecture continues about the powdery substance on the Shield, with its recent renovator James Dwan speculating yesterday it could have been plaster placed under the Shield’s badges during the restoration.
Hawke’s Bay Rugby has also been dealing with the fallout of an alleged drink-driving crash by one of its players into a suburban Napier fence, thought to have also occurred during revelry on Sunday night and Monday morning.
-Hawke’s Bay Today