Hawke's Bay beat the Wellington Lions 20-18 in Wellington on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
Hawke's Bay beat the Wellington Lions 20-18 in Wellington on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
A Hawke’s Bay Magpies player has been charged in relation to an alleged drink-driving crash on a night of Ranfurly Shield revelry, which ended with the trophy split in two at the weekend.
Police confirmed a man in his 20s has been summoned to appear in court after a car hit a fence on Hunter Dr, in the Napier suburb of Te Awa, reported at 3.35am on Sunday. No-one was injured.
The man faces a drink-driving charge but police are considering other driving charges relating to the event, police said.
Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union chief executive Jay Campbell confirmed to Stuff the man charged was a player, adding it was also being treated as an employment matter.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is also investigating suggestions illicit drug use may have been taking place in the environment of the shield, following the emergence of a social media image showing “white powder” on one of its broken pieces.
Asked if any drug testing was taking place in light of the new claim, NZR head of communications and campaigns Paul Stevens told Hawke’s Bay Today drug testing was “an employment-related matter and therefore confidential, although results generally become public where sportspeople have been investigated for breaches and suspended or censured”.
An image was shared with what appears to be a white powder on the Ranfurly Shield. Photo / Supplied
Monday’s furore came as NZR moved to repossess the recently remade shield for repairs in the wake of Sunday’s revelation that it had broken when a player dropped it on a kitchen floor. Campbell said it had happened about 8.30am.
The sequence of events, however, was a murky affair late on Monday, other than the fact that the Magpies won the shield with a 20-18 win over the Wellington Lions on a climatically bleak day at Sky Stadium on the Wellington Waterfront and returned it, intact, to Napier.
The game finished shortly before 4pm, and the team travelled home to Napier by bus, with the shield. They were at the Waipukurau Hotel about 6.30pm (a drive of normally just over three hours from Wellington), then the shield was carried off the bus at West Quay, Napier, about 11.30pm. It was taken into Paddy’s Irish Pub, the bar being the sponsor, with its name on the players’ shorts.
A video surfaced online showing the extent of the damage to the Ranfurly Shield.
Bargoers have told Hawke’s Bay Today the shield was behind the bar, in one piece, about 2am.
In a statement on Monday, NZR community rugby general manager Steve Lancaster confirmed the union was “aware of images circulating on social media and, as a result, NZR has launched an investigation to understand what has occurred”.
“The shield has undergone a tremendous amount of restoration work over the past 12 months to ensure it remains a focal point and source of pride for the rugby community.”
The win on Saturday, avenging the loss of the shield to Wellington last year, should have locked it away in the Hawke’s Bay Union’s trophy cabinet for the summer, but NZR is now looking at the protocols around how it is looked after.
In the past it has been kept under the beds of players and families, and there are many stories, true or untrue, about how its biggest days have been celebrated.
The Hawke’s Bay Union had not been celebrating anything significant for this week, such as the parades that proliferated after a Magpies win in 2013 returned the shield to Hawke’s Bay for the first time in 44 years, being intent on focussing on the rest of the National Provincial Championship, starting with a quarter-final against Bay of Plenty on Sunday.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 50 years of journalism experience in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
