Australian coach says dump the NPC

SYDNEY - Traditional provincial competitions should be changed or removed for the good of rugby and its elite players, says Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen.

As he planned for his team's toughest international season, Macqueen expressed frustration at the lack of action from rugby's administrators in solving the game's biggest problem - player burnout.

Macqueen said he could sympathise with players and administrators who voiced discontent at the congested season and lack of chance to rest.

"We've got to listen to that and do something about it urgently," Macqueen said.

"There's a consistent call from coaching and management staff that a global agreement on our season's structure is essential.

"We've been professional for five-six years now and we've always been saying that the biggest problem has been the burnout scenario for players, but unfortunately, nobody's listening.

"Something has to be done, sooner rather than later."

Last year's All Black captain Todd Blackadder - dropped from this year's squad on Sunday - said last week that New Zealand were in danger of not having a show in the 2003 World Cup if the present programme continued.

Players were tired from constant rugby over the past three or four seasons, he said.

Macqueen believed diehards who did not want to part with tradition were a major stumbling block to positive change.

Domestic competitions such as New Zealand's NPC and South Africa's Currie Cup had served their countries admirably, but times had changed, he said.

"These traditional competitions are still in place, but they came in before we had professionalism and before the games were as hard as they are now.

"The model of having some sort of competition earlier than the Super 12, then having the Super 12 in the middle of the year and possibly running on a bit longer, and then having test rugby, seems pretty good to me. The biggest issue is that we get a good break of about three months."

The Brumbies players get no respite after this Saturday's Super 12 final, their 13th match of the competition.

More than half of them will be expected to turn out for the Wallabies in their season-opener against New Zealand Maori two weeks later.

The Brumbies will get a three-week break after the Maori match, but the Reds and Waratahs players will be in action on June 16 and 23 in matches against the Lions before three tests in three weeks from June 30.

The Wallabies travel to Pretoria two weeks later for their first Tri-Nations match, before trips to Dunedin, Perth and Sydney round out Macqueen's international coaching career.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive David Rutherford said the NPC could be moved, but not scrapped.

"There is no question of New Zealand not having the NPC," he said.

"The NPC and Currie Cup are important championships. They won't go away.

"They're both very important parts of our rugby structure, But what we are signalling is a preparedness to be flexible when they might occur."

Rutherford belongs to an International Rugby Board working party that will start reviewing schedules next month. The process is expected to finish by November.

- NZPA