NZ wool company puts out open letter to NZ Rugby over beanies
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RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
In-fighting and claims of bullying at Southland licensing trust
The Mataura Licensing Trust has its office in Gore and services an extended area within Southland. Photo: Supplied / LDR / Wikicommons The president of a southern licensing trust said he will not accept his deputy's apology following a fiery meeting this week. Gore-based Mataura Licensing Trust operates a range of alcohol-related businesses in Southland with a mandate for redistributing profits within the community. On Thursday, tempers flared at one of its meetings after president Horace McAuley accused deputy Vince Aynsley of bullying in his president's report. The situation centred on an incident at the New Zealand Licensing Trusts Association conference in Invercargill on 19 July, where McAuley alleged Aynsley asked him how he would feel when he was no longer president next term. The Otago Daily Times was at Thursday's meeting and said Aynsley could not recall the exchange but would apologise for whatever he hypothetically said. An argument then began between president McAuley and board member Jeannine Cunningham over an employment issue - but not before she alleged the president had blown up at a previous meeting and was guilty of bullying himself. Cunningham claimed she was approached by multiple people at the Invercargill conference asking: "when are you getting rid of Horace?" Despite the in-fighting, McAuley shut down any suggestion that the licensing trust was dysfunctional. "Never in your life. Never, ever, ever," McAuley told Local Democracy Reporting . Mataura Licensing Trust president Horace McAuley, left, deputy president Vince Aynsley, and board member Jeannine Cunningham. Photo: Supplied / Local Democracy Reporting The issues had not dissuaded him from wanting to stay on at the trust, and he noted he had been elected president unopposed since 2010. "We're a busy trust, and as their president, I have an awful lot to do. And so I'm not focusing on this," he said. "To be fair to both myself and the Mataura Licensing Trust, it's a distraction, and the person responsible for the distraction is the person who should answer the questions. "That's Vince Aynsley." McAuley said he "received" Aynsley's apology, which was different to "accepting" it. Aynsley did not wish to comment on the situation but said he had asked McAuley how he would feel "hypothetically" if he wasn't president next year. "I'm in no rush to talk or bring down Horace or say anything in public at this stage." The president's dig at his deputy was not the only criticism Aynsley faced at the meeting. Another member, Bryan Burgess, claimed Aynsley underhandedly took his deputy role three years ago, which Aynsley accepted. Licensing trust elections run at the same time as local body elections, with the president selected by members. The next election is set for 11 October. Mataura Licensing Trust controls a total of 12 liquor outlets, bars, restaurants and accommodation providers from Tapanui in the north to Tokonui in the south. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Lions boss treats son Owen Farrell 'like any other player'
British and Irish Lions' head coach Andy Farrell (L) and player Owen Farrell. Photo: AFP The familial bond between head coach Andy Farrell and playmaker son Owen looms large over the British & Irish Lions as they prepare for the second test against Australia in Melbourne. However, the dynamic between the pair has been strictly professional since Owen's late call-up into his father's squad, according to Lions scrum coach John Fogarty. Owen Farrell missed out on selection for the first test win in Brisbane but the former England captain has been named in the reserves for the clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Farrell and his father have shared plenty of change-rooms, including during the Lions' 2013 tour of Australia, when Andy was defence coach and Owen came off the bench to help the tourists win the third test decider in Sydney. The family ties make for an interesting sub-plot as the pair could celebrate another series win at the MCG on Saturday. In the team environment, though, their special relationship is virtually imperceptible, said Fogarty. "When we're training or when we're in a rugby setting, there's no difference between any player and Owen," Fogarty told reporters on Friday. "It's just the same relationship as any player and coach. If you didn't know it was his son, you wouldn't really get it. "You wouldn't really think he was his son. He doesn't treat him in any way differently. "They're two professionals." Owen Farrell of England at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Photo: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan, ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan / PHOTOSPORT The coach's decision to call up Owen as a replacement for injured fullback Elliot Daly proved polarising despite the player's leadership and experience of three previous Lions tours. Farrell had, after all, not played a test for England since 2023 and endured an injury-blighted season with French club Racing 92. But few have questioned the 33-year-old's selection for the Melbourne test following his strong, 80-minute performance at inside centre in the mid-week win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV. Farrell's versatility and experience could prove valuable for the Lions on Saturday should the test prove tight and tense deep into the second half. The players will hear a familiar voice out on the field. "He has huge respect from the other players," Fogarty said. "When he talks, he talks sense, like his dad. "There's similarities between the two of them. They're natural leaders. That's very visible when they both interact with players." - Reuters
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
World Cup-bound Black Fern Kelly Brazier thought she was getting the 'bad' phone call
2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final between England and New Zealand. Kelly Brazier fends off a tackle. Photo: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane When Kelly Brazier received a phone call from Allan Bunting, she thought he was delivering the same bad news he delivered to her four years ago. Instead, the Black Ferns coach told her she'd made the 32-strong squad that would be going the Women's Rugby World Cup in England next month. Brazier will be appearing at her fourth edition after playing in 2010, 2014 and 2017. She has earned a place as the back-up first five-eighths alongside co-captain Ruahei Demant. Bunting was part of the coaching group during the Black Ferns last World Cup campaign, when Sir Wayne Smith was head coach. "We were in camp and flew home on Sunday night and we had been told our position-specific coach would ring us, so for me that's Tony Christie and that Bunts [Bunting] would be making all the calls to the players that hadn't made it," Brazier said. "I was unpacking my bag and the next thing I see my phone going off and I see Bunt's name pop up and I was immediately 'oh man, not this again' because he had made the call four years prior. "I picked up the phone, I was like 'Hey Bunts', and then he was just straight away 'congratulations'. "I couldn't believe it to be honest, probably because I wasn't expecting the call from him but he's someone who I have spent a lot of time with over the years so it was special to get the call from him." The pair know each other well. Bunting was head coach of the Black Ferns sevens for five years until stepping away at the end of 2021. Bunting took over as Black Ferns director of rugby in 2023. Brazier has had a long successful career in both codes. The 35-year-old debuted for the Black Ferns in 2009, and became a full-time professional sevens player in 2014. The Black Ferns Rugby World Cup Team Announcement. Photo: Marty Melville She has won two World Cup titles in the fifteens game and two Olympic medals in sevens, a silver in Rio 2016 and gold at the 2020 Tokyo games. She was aiming for a third Olympics but an achilles injury early last year put a dent in her build-up and she missed out on Paris 2024. Brazier missed out on the 2021 World Cup triumph, hosted in New Zealand and her prospects of making this year's world cup didn't look great. Can Brazier, who has played 44 tests across a 16-year career, believe she's going to another world cup? "No, to be honest, it was a massive honour to go to one, let alone thinking I was going to my fourth. "Four years ago, when I missed out on the world cup in New Zealand, I definitely had doubts if I would come back and four years is a long time when you're my age so to be here now is special and something I'm very proud of." Brazier signed to play for Chiefs Manawa in Super Rugby Aupiki 2025. She earned a late lifeline against the Wallaroos earlier this month, which was her first test since 2021. She did enough to convince the selectors they needed her in the squad for her fourth World Cup bid. Kelly Brazier playing sevens for New Zealand. Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix How did she control her nerves knowing so much was on the line in that game? "Pretty nervous I guess and this time of the year, the competition was hotly contested in my position. Knowing not just playing my first test in a while, but I had to perform to be in a position to make this team," she said. "There were nerves but I've sort of been around, played in some pinnacles, played a few Test matches so just tried to go back to my strategies and just treat it like any other game." In a career littered with highlights, Brazier said being named for the world cup was "up there". "… If not the most special and probably off the back of my past four years, after missing an Olympics that I really wanted to be a part of and then missing a home World Cup in New Zealand, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity," she said. "I guess to bounce back from that and be named to go to England where it's going to be the biggest world cup for women yet is very special and proud to be here." Brazier said everything about being a part of the team still excited her. "It never gets old and probably the last couple of years when I've been injured and missed selection, there's probably things in the past I've taken for granted," she said. "But that time away from the game, coming back in, I've enjoyed those little things, those small moments, whether it's just having dinner with girls from around the country, people I haven't met before so just making sure I enjoy every moment." The lead up to this world cup, compared to her first world cup in 2010 could not be more different. "Throughout the camp some of girls asked me what it was like. My first world cup we had no tests leading in, it was maybe a seven day camp and off on the plane," she said. "The lead in we've got, the support staff we have now, the coaches, the facilities are unreal and I think it just shows the growth of women's rugby." The Black Ferns are the defending champions after beating England 24-21 in front of a sold out Eden Park in 2022. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
