QC to rule on Bourke's Shield status

The New Zealand Rugby Union has appointed a QC to investigate whether Bay of Plenty's Colin Bourke was eligible to play in Sunday's dramatic win against Auckland.

Loose forward Bourke came off the bench to help beat Auckland 33-28 and take the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in the Bay's history.

NZRFU deputy chief executive Steve Tew said Queen's Counsel Bruce Squire would sit as a subcommittee of the union board to decide if Bourke had been properly transferred from Hawkes Bay.

All affected parties have until 4.30pm today to make submissions.

Tew said Squire would release his decision this week.

Earlier, Bay of Plenty dismissed speculation they could lose the shield over fielding an ineligible player.

Their stance was given an unlikely boost, with Auckland adamant they do not want rugby's most famous provincial trophy returned because of a technicality.

Hawkes Bay chief executive Ian Condon said Bourke had not been properly transferred from his union.

His Bay of Plenty counterpart, Paul Abbot, was confident his union had worked to the letter of the law, and the fault lay with Hawkes Bay.

Bay of Plenty left Auckland with the shield and four NPC competition points. It is those competition points which may be in dispute as New Zealand union officials consider the issue.

"If there was a breach we would expect they would do something," ARU chief executive David White said. "We don't expect the shield back. They beat us fair and square and the shield should stay in Bay of Plenty, However, it could have an impact on points."

A precedent was set last year when North Harbour were stripped of their points for playing South African halfback Chad Alcock in two NPC matches before his international clearance had arrived.

Alcock played in North Harbour's 15-3 win over Wellington and their bonus-point loss to Southland.

Wellington appealed after the NZRFU originally fined North Harbour $7500.

- NZPA