KEY POINTS:
It took 11 attempts over 21 years for North Harbour to win the Ranfurly Shield, but two of the heroes from that memorable day last September have been discarded by new coach Wayne Pivac.
Roger Dustow, a hooker with 36 caps for the province, and openside flanker Regan Tamihere, who played in all 12 games last season, have both been dumped. Pivac believes they do not fit his new expansive gameplan.
It is one of the pitfalls of professional rugby - new coaches favour new players - but the hardest thing for the duo, who have been in superb form for club side East Coast Bays, is being denied the chance to defend the Log o' Wood.
"That is gutting," said Dustow. "It just doesn't seem right. We worked so hard to get the Shield and so many greats of Harbour rugby have come and gone and never won it. To win it but not have the chance to defend it just doesn't seem right."
Harbour's win was one for the ages. With only 28 per cent possession, they made more than 300 tackles to Canterbury's 48. A good portion of those tackles were made by hard-working flanker Tamihere.
He said his omission had knocked the wind out of his sails. "Winning the Shield was far and away my most memorable moment in rugby and this year was all about defending it.
"To know that I will be at home watching the defences and have nothing to do with keeping it is hard."
Pivac arrived at Harbour after three years coaching Fiji and replaces Allan Pollock. He took Auckland to the NPC title in 2003 and has taken a clean-slate approach to the new role.
"We have not taken these decisions lightly, they have been based on form and injury," Pivac explained, who cites Vili Maafu and Adrian Donald as others from last year's squad on the outer. "With Roger we feel that he isn't at his peak physically. His conditioning isn't too good with niggling injuries and he is off the pace for the style of game we want to play."
Pivac said he had researched Tamihere's game extensively with footage from 2006 and his club form. "We feel there are parts of his game that he needs to work on."
In his performance appraisals, Pivac sat down with Tamihere outlining the deficiencies in his game, mostly his tackling, with footage the Harbour technical coaches used to help Tamihere improve throughout the 2006 season. "He said that we had a clean slate but then dredged up a lot of the past, things that I have been working on and learnt from."
Pivac has told Tamihere he had gone from the best flanker in the province to the third or fourth-ranked openside.
It's not the first time Tamihere has crossed paths with the coach but the result is the same. He left Auckland in 2003 to join Harbour after being ignored by then-Auckland coach Pivac. "That is a hard part of professional rugby, as your selection comes down to the opinion of one coach," said the 23-year-old.
In Dustow's case, James Hinchco has superceded him for the starting berth and Tom McCartney has been taken from Auckland on loan.
The appointment of McCartney will upset Harbour stalwarts. "We had a major concern at hooker," Pivac said. "We looked at the hookers from the academy and thought they weren't ready, so have brought in Tom as we were thin on the ground. Tom has been training the house down and comes with big wraps from Blues coach David Nucifora... He deserves his place."
Dustow, a robust, no-nonsense hooker, could get a late call-up to the squad if Auckland require McCartney, should Derren Witcombe be selected for the All Blacks. In the meantime, Dustow and Tamihere will play club rugby while looking overseas for opportunities.
Dustow, who was born in Japan and lived there for six years, speaks fluent Japanese and is awaiting confirmation of a Japanese passport.
He has been in contact with national coach John Kirwan, who is interested in him, but it hinges on the passport. The process should be straightforward but Dustow said the Japanese embassy had a reluctance to issue passports to non-nationals. A number of other clubs have also shown interest as, with a Japanese passport, he qualifies as a local player.
"The world is my oyster if my passport comes through," he said. "I will be away laughing as the clubs in Japan will pay some pretty big money."
There is speculation he could earn as much as $500,000 a season, about what some high-profile All Blacks who have signed with European clubs will earn.
Both Dustow and Tamihere are expecting their first children.
"I have to think of the family now and overseas is where the money is, so hopefully I can take advantage of that," said Dustow. "I am an injury-riddled 24-year-old and the window for a professional rugby player to benefit financially is quite small."
Tamihere will honour his 2007 Harbour contract, then head to Europe.
"It doesn't help my stocks not being a part of an Air New Zealand Cup squad when I look to get a contract but hopefully I will play at a high level. I am trying to make the best of a bad situation."
Both players have been part of the Blues Development Squad since 2003 and have always had the ambition to play for the Blues and the All Blacks.
"Getting to the top of New Zealand rugby has always been a priority, but as time goes on that is less realistic and then you have re-adjust your goals," said Dustow.
In the 2006 Super 14 season, Tamihere came very close to making his Blues debut. When injury ran rife through the flanker stocks, he was drafted into the squad only to be overlooked in favour of draft flanker Onosai Tololima-Auvaa.
"All the signs were that I was close to the Blues squad but it has been downhill ever since."
While the past week has been a shock, the youngsters plan to knuckle down and overcome the setback.
"I wish him [Pivac] and the squad all the best - it is harsh on me but I am going to work harder now to prove him wrong," said Dustow.
"It knocks you a bit but I am going to bounce back from this and keep improving my game," said Tamihere.
Though the pair won't be defending the Ranfurly Shield this season, they hope it stays in the region. Tamihere said it had ignited the community spirit of rugby in North Harbour.
