KEY POINTS:
Former Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell was today named Hawke's Bay coach for the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup.
Russell last season coached Wairarapa-Bush to win the Heartland Championship, after previously taking them to the top of the old National Provincial Championship division three in 2004 and 2005, and to runners-up in his first year at the helm in 2003.
Russell also last year took charge of the Heartland 15 -- formerly known as the Divisional 15.
Prior to coaching Wairarapa-Bush, Russell coached Marist St Pats in the Wellington club rugby competition, and Wellington's under-19 and colts sides between 1995 and 1999.
"I'm delighted to be selected for the head coach's role," Russell said today.
"I have worked hard at being an established and successful coach at each coaching level and am looking forward to the challenge of coaching the Kelt Capital Magpies at Air New Zealand Cup level."
This month, Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union (HBRFU) and former head coach Brendon Ratcliffe settled their long-running legal dispute.
HBRFU announced in December it had sacked Ratcliffe, prompting him to file personal grievance proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority.
But HBRFU withdrew its notice of termination while Ratcliffe said he had resigned and would pursue other career opportunities.
In Hawke's Bay's first season in the new Air New Zealand Cup, the province finished well off the pace but still the best of the newly promoted sides that included Manawatu, Tasman and Counties-Manukau.
- NZPA
