Fans left in dark over who will lead Blues

Sir John Kirwan. Photo / Jason Oxenham

For the integrity of the process and for the sake of appearances, those involved with the Blues coaching review have to insist it's not a done deal that Sir John Kirwan is staying on with Tabai Matson coming as his assistant.

But that stance is hardly credible and if this was Britain, bookmakers wouldn't take any more bets on the subject and would be paying out on those that had already been made.

That Joe Public is being left in limbo is par for the course.

Consumers - or what used to be known as actual fans - have long been the neglected component of the wider rugby fraternity. In the past 10 years, the list of priorities has become broadcasters, sponsors ... and everyone else can get stuffed. So it will bother no one in either the Blues or New Zealand Rugby Union administrations that long-suffering and loyal supporters are being fed such transparent vagueness when there is, in fact, specific and real information to give them instead.

How the NZRU reconciles this stance with the Crusaders is a different matter, however. Their need to know the specifics is real and pressing. If Matson is heading to Auckland next year it would be appropriate and indeed imperative that his role with the Crusaders be immediately terminated.

It's not a matter of his integrity or ability to stay committed to the Crusaders. It's a matter of ethics, principle and professionalism. It's standard corporate practice to ask executives and senior management who are off to work for a rival, to pack up and be gone in a jiffy. No hard feelings - nothing personal, it's just there is intellectual property to protect.

It's galling enough for head coach Todd Blackadder that his own employer is complicit in connecting Matson with the Blues, but he shouldn't be expected to continue to share information and the inner workings of his team with a man who next season is going to be working for the enemy.

And nor should Blackadder have to be the one to manage the severance. He and Matson are close - as much friends as they are colleagues - and it's not right that he should be asked to pull the trigger when it has been the NZRU holding the gun.

Losing Matson at this critical juncture may hurt the Crusaders this campaign, but keeping him on will hurt them long into next season. Besides, there surely has to be some acknowledgement from the NZRU that they understand the situation is untenable.