RUGBY - Syers cops backlash over debt, ABs' coaches

Warwick Syers After listening to the results of the vote, Warwick Syers waited out the business at hand at the New Zealand Rugby Union annual meeting in Wellington, then quietly picked up his briefcase and walked out the door.
He could have stayed for a provincial chairman's meeting to add his two cents worth, but - after his six-year tenure as a member of the NZRU board had just been terminated by a vote from the provincial delegates - he couldn't see the point. So about two hours after he had been voted out, Syers was back home in Whangarei pondering what had gone wrong.
"There was a bit of frustration among the provincial unions and it came out (yesterday). There is still considerable feeling about the debt and still considerable feeling about the reappointment of the All Black coaching team and I guess I was the casualty of that. It takes a toll on ones ego to be perfectly honest, but, like any democratic thing, you stand and you may or may not be there at the end of that process," Syers said.
Syers lost out on a head-to-head vote for the "northern regional" representative on the NZRU board to Gerard van Tilborg from North Harbour, a vote result that flew against a recommendation from the NZRU appointments and remuneration committee. Van Tilborg stood against Syers saying "the board needs to be reminded of what's happening at the coalface". He has been a Blues Super 14 franchise director since 2005 and North Harbour chairman for the past three years as well.
But Syers didn't particularly agree with Van Tilborg's viewpoint and wondered what impact the appointment of another big city rugby administrator would do to help the struggling rural unions get fair representation at NZRU board level.
Syers was part of the appointments committee that decided to keep Graham Henry as All Blacks coach and has been on the finance committee as the NZRU has struggled to keep up with rising costs in the sport.
He was also part of the board when it successfully bid for Rugby World Cup hosting rights and posted record profits. He was hoping to be there for upcoming Super 14 franchise and provincial union reviews.
"There was work in progress that I would have liked to have been involved in but that is not the case and you just have to get on with life," he said.
In other appointments yesterday, NZRU board member Mike Eagle was re-elected unopposed as one of the South Zone representatives, while independent member Ken Douglas was reappointed. Van Tilborg was elected by 60 votes to 28.