Kaikohe premier women’s rugby team vow to continue fight with NRU

New details have emerged on the contentious code of conduct breaches by the Kaikohe premier women’s rugby team that led to its exclusion from the semifinal.

Team coach Te Rangi Allen has also come outfiring against the Northland Rugby Union for its handling of the matter which he said has deprived a number of up-and-coming players in his team of an opportunity to play finals footy.

A number of questions still remain unanswered in the lead-up to the team’s exclusion from the match against Old Boys Marist on June 11.

NRU chief executive Cam Bell said details surrounding the union’s code of conduct breaches were not provided to the side due to a historical breach of confidential information from within the team.

After an unsuccessful attempt by player and team spokeswoman Arohanui Allen to obtain an interim injunction in the High Court to restrain Northland Rugby Union (NRU) and its chief executive from excluding her team’s participation in the semifinal, she contacted the Ombudsman and the Sports and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Service.

Allen said the players and management were not afforded natural justice as NRU neither provided details of the allegations nor gave them an opportunity to respond.

But Bell said NRU communications where the code of conduct was concerned were with the Kaikohe Rugby Football and Sports Club, not an individual person.

Asked what precluded NRU from furnishing specifics of the complaints to the team directly, Bell said: “Historical breach of confidential information from within that team. All information was provided to the Kaikohe RFSC.”

He said NRU met and discussed with the club, which was provided with the details of the complaints against the team, multiple times to resolve the issue to ensure they did not recur next year.

The answer is at odds with a letter club president Wally Harris wrote to him, dated June 7, and requested that NRU provide written detailed accounts of the allegations made against the club, along with the detailed framework and standard operations procedures the union used to investigate such allegations.

The next day, the Northland Council of Unions upheld a recommendation by NRU to remove the team from the rest of the competition.

Bell relayed the decision in a letter to Harris on June 9. Asked when NRU supplied details of the allegations to the club and when discussions took place between both parties given Harris’ letter just a day before the team’s exclusion, he said: “I reiterate that NRU worked with Kaikohe RFSC executive committee for six weeks to resolve this issue prior to it going to NCOU – immediately when complaints were brought to our attention.”

Bell said he and NRU community pathways manager Kylie Harper met with the club’s executive committee when matters continued to escalate to detail all allegations but, more importantly, to seek a solution.

“When this failed, after what was proposed was acceptable as a solution to NRU to see the team continue to play, Kylie met with the team and was abused and shouted down.”

On Harris’ letter seeking specifics of the allegations just a day before the team was excluded from the competition, Bell referred the Northern Advocate to Harris and the internal difference between the club’s executive and full committees.

There were also privacy issues involved in the complaints against the team, he said, that related to the identification of complainants.

Shortly after the club’s exclusion, Harris said the club was investigating other avenues. Since then, the club has decided not to engage with the media and in a Facebook post on June 16, it acknowledged Bell and the NRU and thanked them for their participation and support throughout the process.

“The NRU has been open and honest with all communication, allowing us to make positive steps forward and for this the KRFSC is grateful.

“Upon reflection, it has been identified that greater steps could have been made by the KRFSC and team management to address the then allegations from the NRU. For this, we are sorry to all those impacted and, as a club, we are working through employing a firmer process going forward.

“We understand that there were concerns from our community with regard to the processes and information offered at the time the decision was handed down. Please know we are and have been doing our best to work through these trying times to address these concerns and find the answers to those questions.”

Arohanui Allen and Te Rangi Allen said the issue was far from being resolved and said the team distanced itself from the club’s Facebook post. She has since filed, under the Official Information Act, a request with the NRU for information on the complaints and has also sought advice from the Ombudsman. A similar request has also been made to the club.

The Ombudsman’s office said NRU was not subjected to the Official Information Act 1982.

Arohanui Allan has also contacted Sports and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Service which, she said, offered a tikanga-based resolution process that would support all in restoring mana on the proviso all parties must agree to engage in the service.

She said following a meeting with Bell and Harper where they advised Harris the team would be excluded, Harris opted to provide two options to keep the team in the competition. One, the team’s management would be dropped and NRU would fill the void and two, to go with the status quo and lose competition points and be ineligible for the finals. The team chose the latter as it was not prepared to drop the very people who supported the team in its journey to the playoffs, she said.

Arohangi Allen denied Bell’s comments that Harper was shouted at during a meeting she had with the team. Arohanui Allen said her team sought clarity, evidence and a fair process at a meeting where Harper was left with the task of representing NRU after Bell decided not to attend.

Team coach Te Rangi Allen said he and the girls were gutted at being unable to finish the season on a high.

He called on the NRU to show honesty and integrity and to put in place processes that allowed all the parties to have a say on crucial matters.

“We have solo parents, mums, and up-and-coming players who didn’t get an opportunity to play in the semifinals, and we had a plan to win the competition.

“There are players in this team that are on the fringe of making it into the Farah Palmer Cup squad and had they been allowed to complete the competition, they would likely have made the cut,” he said.

Te Rangi Allen said the NRU was trying to paint a picture that his players were a bunch of bullies without any evidence to support it. Despite their differences, he said he has an amicable relationship with the club.

Imran Ali is a senior reporter who does general news reporting at the Advocate after more than two decades covering courts. He also takes a keen interest in rugby.