Who cares about our rugby?

It’s galling and unfair that Steve Hansen allowed four Canterbury ABs (selected as part of the excessively large 51 man end of the year tour) to play in the Mitre 10 Final – even though the wider squad had already left for Japan.

Regrettably no such favouritism was given to Taranaki rugby so we could use our five Super rugby players, including the Barrett brothers during our dire season.

NZRU knew we were having a crisis year due to injuries to our key players, further compounded by plummeting crowd numbers (and spiralling revenue) due to the unavailability of our covered grandstands because of the earthquake risk. Also we faced the prospect of relegation toward the end of the season. So there were extenuating reasons for the NZRU to free up our best players. Revelations it cost an additional $250,000 to cover our injured players, and we still had to foot the wage bill for our five Super players (even though they didn’t even play a game) is enough to make the most loyal rugby fan incandescent with rage (TDN Oct 20 ‘‘Winter of Discontent’’).

The lack of support from the NZRU has been disillusioning. In fact, the average Taranaki rugby fan could be forgiven for thinking the NZRU doesn’t give a stuff about the Mitre 10 Cup competition and grassroots rugby.

I don’t blame the TRFU. They are not responsible for the hyper-cautious earthquake standards. In my opinion, the TRFU was thrown multiple hospital passes. They deserve credit for organising the temporary marquees and seating cover at the southern end of Yarrow Stadium. The Barrett brothers fundraiser was also a great initiative. However, in terms of boosting morale and keeping the faith with Taranaki fans, having these stars at a few home games signing autographs would have been much better.

Bryan Vickery, New Plymouth