Rugby: Tew denies pressure tactic

Jamie Mackintosh opted not to join the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand Rugby Union boss Steve Tew admits his organisation stuck their oar in to ensure the Highlanders retained two key players.

Having recapitalised the financially broken Highlanders this year, the NZRU have made a major commitment to protect the franchise - which is why they weren't in favour of seeing captain Jimmy Cowan head to the Blues and vice-captain Jamie Mackintosh join the Hurricanes.

If those two had headed north, that would have been it - game over, time to pack up and lay the Highlanders to rest. Of course the NZRU were going to have their say.

But how direct were they? Did they order Cowan and Mackintosh to stay put, or effectively do that by stressing so vehemently their desire to see them stick it out with the Highlanders?

"It was no more than we would with any player who was looking to move," says Tew.

"All we do is contract them to play in New Zealand. We can't force them to play anywhere they don't want to unless they are in the draft."

That's not easy to swallow as there are people high up the chain of command within the Blues who are adamant Cowan wanted to make the shift but there was too much political heat around the move.

Mackintosh, too, spoke after Southland's defeat to Auckland last Saturday about the attraction of shifting to a franchise where he would be battling each week to hold his place.

"It is not in anyone's best interests for the Highlanders to be losing players right now," Tew said. "People from the New Zealand Rugby Union were involved in those discussions. It would have been inappropriate for them not to have been. Did we put more pressure on than we should? No, we didn't.

"Guys will make their own call but we needed to make sure they knew we have just put a director on the Highlanders board.

"We anticipate we can make changes in that environment and we wanted the players to be aware of that."

The Highlanders clearly need to be fixed. That both Cowan and Mackintosh thought so hard about leaving is an indication of deep-rooted problems.

Inevitably there will be questions raised about the coaching staff and the team culture but this is arguably the team's greatest strength. Glenn Moore and Peter Russell had the side playing structured, tactically astute rugby this year.

The real problem is that the side just doesn't win enough and the constant struggle, the almost guaranteed knowledge that the Highlanders won't be featuring in the playoffs, is mentally draining.

"There are clearly some issues in the Highlanders," says Tew. "They are not getting enough people to their ground and they are too reliant on the draft.

"I guess if you are an aspiring All Black or even an established All Black and you are in an environment where you are not exposed to a winning culture, you have got to ask the question.

"If the team does well, you have a better chance of doing well individually.

"But you can't have everyone bailing out. At some point, you have to say I want to be part of the fix."

The protective blanket will not be laid across the Highlanders' shoulders indefinitely. The next two years are a grace period - an opportunity to use the expertise of injected board member Mike Eagle, who was chair of the Crusaders.

The expectation is that by 2011, franchises will be able to contract players directly and, at that stage, New Zealand really will have a free market economy.

As Tew says: "They will have to protect themselves by creating an environment that people want to be part of.

"Ultimately there is a very strong need for the communities that make up the Highlanders to show that they want a franchise there.

"We haven't put a time limit on it but there is only so much money we can invest in something that is not working."

That same message could just as easily be delivered to the Blues, who have discovered this year that their 'environment' is not all it could be. That, though, is viewed by Tew as a symptom of a much bigger problem.

"In the medium term, we should worry that the Blues can't generate enough players for their team.

"They have a broad player base so obviously there is a problem with their talent development, which they need to address - and they are.

"If the Blues can't, with their player base, end up with a competitive side then it is not working and they need help and advice. "

The NZRU, rightly, want to start the Super 15 with five competitive franchises.

Given all that Tew has on his plate - the dramas surrounding the provincial revamp, a vulnerable All Black side and a World Cup to host on the horizon - it's maybe little wonder that the hard word went on Cowan and Mackintosh.