Losing home game would be big blow for the Turbos

In 2006, Manawatu’s opening NPC rugby match again Auckland hung in the balance because the Oval field resembled a beach.

Resurfacing had been done too late and the Aucklanders saw an opportunity to demand the game be played at Eden Park.

The top 60 millimetres of the ground had been sliced off and resown before sand was spread over it.

Manawatu eventually stood firm and the game was staged at home, but it was a controversial close call.

Now here we are in 2017 with a similar scenario, with the grandstand suddenly found to be below fire safety standards.

Alterations and repairs hadn’t been fire-sealed and have put in jeopardy the Turbos’ opening game against Wellington just 17 days away.

Worse, the Cake Tin in Wellington is not now available, so if the game is shifted, it will be to deep in enemy territory in Hawke’s Bay.

Even more urgent is that the cut-off date is August 10, so fingers are crossed the repairs are done in time as the union has been assured.

If the game is to be moved, it will be a public relations disaster.

The Turbos play only five home games as it is.

Sky TV has already kicked into touch any idea of playing at the Sport and Rugby Institute at Massey University even though it televised national sevens tournaments from there.

Feilding’s Johnston Park is too small and has a boggy ground with a rickety scoreboard hutch.

Manawatu Rugby will cop the heat if this thing turns turtle and yet it is up to the landlord to present the venue.

The landlord is the Palmerston North City Council, which could be in the gun for reparations if the game is kiboshed.

Already level 2, where rugby hosts some of its sponsors, is out for up to four months, so they will be hosted in one of the other Central Energy Trust Arena buildings.

The council hierarchy will need to ask questions. They might find the grandstand, when it was gutted and rebuilt in March 2005, might not have been up to standard even then.

Even so, this year there should have been ample time to put it right because it hadn’t been used for months since speedway finished.

We figured something was up when the concourse entrances to the grandstand were locked shut for the club rugby final on July 22.

Close to 3000 bods were diverted to the two tiny stairwells at the front of the building.

The top hospitality level wasn’t required that day, but will be needed for the NPC games for the rugby union’s sponsors who fund the Turbos.

It’s hard to imagine the whole caboodle going up in smoke anyway. It is largely concrete.

The original grandstand was razed to the ground in 1983, but that was old and wooden.

The new one was built in 1986 and virtually rebuilt in 2004-05 in time for the infamous Lions game when the Manawatu team went up in smoke.

The stringent fire-safety inspections should also be a warning for the rest of the country’s stadiums.

Super Turbos survive so far

A bonus from the Hurricanes’ demise in Johannesburg is that the Manawatu Turbos will get Otere Black a week early.

By contrast, the Turbos will barely see their finals-bound Crusaders, skipper Heiden Bedwell-curtis and prop Michael Alaalatoa, until the NPC kicks off.

Fortunately, all three have rarely been starters for their Super teams, so should return fresh for the real deal.

Alaalatoa, is on the radar at national level where giant tighthead props are so soughtafter. His Aussies are keeping tabs on him and three seasons in New Zealand makes him eligible here, and playing in Christchurch (behind three All Black props) is always a leg up.

Meanwhile, the key moment at Ellis Park on Sunday came in the 32nd minute when Dane Coles dropped the ball with the line open.

That was a parallel with All Black Julian Savea over-running the ball early in the third test against the Lions. Darn!

The Hurricanes’ tight five were found out at Johannesburg with their two lean locks and suspect props.

While they beat the Crusaders at Wellington and deprived them of the top qualifying spot, remember the Crusaders left out their All Black forwards that night.

Where has day rugby gone?

Playing sport in the sun has a lot going for it.

The Palmerston North Boys’ High School first XV beat Rotorua in the midday sun on Saturday in a game that also featured an all-in dust-up.

And yet over at Downtown, those watching the Andre Rieu concert beamed in from Maastricht (at an inflated ticket price of $35) shivered because heating parts couldn’t be obtained at weekends.

While on freezing, Super Rugby just didn’t need another big game at Christchurch where the quarterfinal and semifinal were played at zero degrees on a tacky track.

At least at Ellis Park they will play the final in daylight in a balmy 20 degrees. Day rugby – what’s that?