KEY POINTS:
It's funny how quickly the New Zealand Rugby Union can move when it wants to.
Last week, the Herald on Sunday broke the news the NZRU was planning to announce the All Black squad before the Super 14 final.
That story was written after viewing two documents sent
by the NZRU. One was sent to all contracted players via their Super 14 team manager and said: "The All Black squad is expected to be named on Monday 26 May before the Rebel Sport Super 14 final on Saturday 31 May."
The other was sent just to Super 14 team managers and was even stronger in tone, stating boldly that the squad will be named on Monday May 26, before the final. It was underlined and later in the letter it was repeated, this time with the word before in italics as it was in the letter to the players.
There was nothing ambiguous about the language. The date was stated as a fait accompli.
So it was intriguing to hear NZRU chief executive Steve Tew confirm late on Friday night that the squad will now be named on Sunday, June 1.
He was even contrite, admitting there had been a cock-up with the letters - they were premature and should have been cross-checked before they were sent out.
The decision had never been made, he said, and having completed the necessary consultation, it had been decided to leave the team naming until after the final.
The speed of this decision was at odds with his comments in this paper a week ago, where he suggested confirmation of the naming date was still a few weeks away.
How come something that was going to take a few weeks suddenly took a few days?
Well, it could be related to the fact that once word got out about the NZRU's plans, Rebel Sport got on the blower for a 'please explain'.
Had the tournament's principal sponsor been consulted about the timing of the All Black squad naming? No. Would Rebel Sport have agreed to the May 26 date had they been consulted? "If we had been consulted I think everybody could guess what our response would be," said Briscoes Group managing director Rod Duke.
"You wouldn't go out and run the risk of upsetting this event [Super 14 final]. That sort of information [naming of All Black squad] could really take the shine off what could be a really great final."
Tew confirmed he had spoken to Duke on Friday to reassure the sponsor that it had been a mistake to put the May 26 date in the letters.#"That date was wrong," he said, "and I have reassured Rebel Sport that had we been looking to name the squad on that date, they absolutely would have been consulted."
On the plus side, a sensible conclusion has been reached that satisfies all parties.
But the mind can't help drifting back to 2006 when the NZRU deliberately didn't consult News International about their plans to remove 22 All Blacks from the early rounds of the Super 14.
The NZRU kept News - an organisation that provides about 50 per cent of the governing body's income - in the dark because consultation would have been pointless. The media giant would simply have said "no way" to the conditioning plan and that would have been that.
Could the NZRU have been trying something similar with Rebel Sport?
The evidence is certainly damning. It's hard to believe that documents of such importance as the ones sent out last week would not be double-checked and signed off by senior management.
Or maybe it is best to put the whole episode down to administrative incompetence. That's easier to live with than the thought they were up to something much worse until they were rumbled.
