Opinion: Future of Wanganui rugby in dire straits

Where to now for Wanganui rugby? Photo/File

Wanganui rugby has just suffered its worst season in the Heartland Championship ... and there may be more struggle to come in the years ahead.

The exodus of Wanganui school teams to the Manawatu competition is ringing alarm bells for the future of our representative side.

It is also leaving several rugby-loving schoolkids out in the cold.

Last week we reported that Wanganui's under-15 comp was no more, leaving the likes of City College, Cullinane and the Counties junior side in something of a cleft stick.

City College and Cullinane have already been forced to de-camp to play their rugby in the Manawatu, and yesterday a Ruapehu College spokesman said the school was feeling "lost", "disillusioned" and "left in the lurch", having organised an under-15 to 16 team with a view to rebuilding a 1st XV. So Wanganui's loss is Manawatu's gain and it's a sad state of affairs.

The extra travelling and expense to head to Palmerston North every other week will no doubt take its toll on some, and there is also the dubious prospect of Wanganui's most promising young talent being poached by the rival union.

Some schools will argue that the stronger Manawatu competition will speed the development of their boys but it still leaves a slightly bitter taste.

The Wanganui union has said it is "powerless" to stop schools going elsewhere for their games, so perhaps there is a role for the New Zealand union to step in and stop the exodus and back up its commitment to developing grassroots rugby.

As things stand, the progress of young players through from school to Wanganui representative honours is under threat.

ALSO on a sporting note, that doyenne of netball coaches and scourge of the Silver Ferns Norma Plummer has confirmed she is bowing out.

As coach of the Australian Diamonds, the imperious Plummer broke Kiwi hearts often and now she will finish her illustrious career with the West Coast Fever at the conclusion of the Trans-Tasman League season.

The immaculate Plummer - the grande dame of understated bling and, yes, her hair coiffured to within an inch of its life - will be sadly missed.