KEY POINTS:
Balancing experience with youth in the testing ground of Air New Zealand Cup rugby is a formula for building depth in the game across the country.
Getting it right is the challenge.
The competition is giving the likes of Hawke's Bay a chance to anchor their team on
players who are happy to stay with the province.
"Depth in rugby for the future depends on unions like ours stepping up to be competitive against the best in the country," Hawke's Bay Rugby Union chief executive Mike Bishop said.
"The Air New Zealand Cup is the best thing that's happened and we can provide an incentive for our younger players to stay.
"Before this we were bleeding players to other unions as they sought exposure at the top national level."
Hawke's Bay is seeking dispensation for two young players to be included in their squad.
The New Zealand Rugby Union sets protocols for assessing the physical and mental ability of player to cope with first division rugby.
Counties coach Kevin Putt has had two dispensation applications declined, and one, for Fritz Lee, approved.
"We agree with the decision as Fritz is well and truly able to physically cope with first division rugby and the other two are great talents but need another year to come through."
Bishop believed coaches and managers needed to be trusted to make a decision about when younger players are physically and mentally ready to step up to first class rugby.
"There is a view that if a player is good enough they are old enough, bearing in mind they are mostly around the 18- to 19-year- old mark and are mature as individuals.
"Building depth into rugby is critically dependent on the provinces feeding players into the New Zealand rugby system by widening the pool of talent that is available."
Bishop said the loss of All Blacks to the World Cup was unlikely to make difference to the standard of rugby nor hardness of the national provincial competition.
"There are a lot of very talented players below All Black level and a lot with Super 14 experience -- it's not going to be any easier."
Hawke's Bay were well pleased with their efforts in the first season of the Cup rugby and appreciated the reality of competition at that level.
"We were in the second division for too long and the physicality and ability to be consistent over time is a significant challenge that the players are striving to reach.
"They have to if they want to play at the Super 14 and All Blacks level."
Bishop felt the round-robin series for the cup would help teams such as Hawke's Bay plan their preparation, mapping out the teams they would have to beat to make the top eight.
"The pool systems meant everyone was scrambling to get organised once they got through to the round-robin series. It was a logistical problem but now we have the next 10 weeks all worked out."
- NZPA
