Bill Bush (left), Waka Nathan and Jamie Joseph enjoy the celebrations. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Maori Affairs Minister has made a sideline call to the New Zealand Rugby Union to send the Maori team to the 2015 World Cup.
Pita Sharples' view overshadowed the union's announcement at a parliamentary luncheon celebrating 100 years of Maori rugby that New Zealand Maori would return to the
field this year to play Ireland and England in Rotorua and Napier.
The team did not play last year because the NZRU said worsening economic conditions meant it had to cull fixtures for the Maori, Black Ferns and Heartland XV. The cuts saved $1 million but were criticised by ex-players.
In front of a crowd of past All Blacks such as Waka Nathan, Billy Bush and current coach Jamie Joseph, Dr Sharples said the team should be given the opportunity to earn a place at the tournament. He likened Maori to Scotland, Wales and England, who were part of a larger union but competed individually every four years.
"So it is time now to make the case and to take it to the IRB - that the Maori All Blacks be a team that participates in the 2015 Rugby World Cup."
He was also critical of the team's place in the union's hierarchy, saying it was ranked below the All Blacks, under 21s, Super 14 and the NPC - a situation which left him wondering if the union thought the team wasn't politically correct any more.
NZRU chairman Jock Hobbs said New Zealand wouldn't be sending two teams to any World Cup.
"Scotland, Wales and England, they perform there as separate countries but it doesn't also involve a United Kingdom country or a Great Britain side or the Lions. It's a one-team, one-country competition and I think the IRB are unlikely to have a different view or change it."
