• Heart of Origin . . .
That was great news about the New Zealand Rugby Union's decision to allow Heartland Championship unions to field a "player of origin" this season.
There will be a trial period during which the 12 Heartland unions may each field a player who, between the ages of 12 and 18, played three years of club or school rugby within its borders but has now moved on.
That player will not be counted as one of the union's three loan players.
The NZRU has been - fairly enough - accused of not doing much for the smaller unions, but this is one small gesture of assistance.
Plenty of top professional players, and even All Blacks, are developed in the smaller unions.
But for every Carlos Spencer (Horowhenua-Kapiti), Rico Gear (Poverty Bay) or Leon MacDonald (Marlborough) there are 10 good players who have moved to a city, reached a certain level and found nowhere else to go.
These are the players made for this new system.
• . . . is a great concept
So, given the most important union in the Heartland Championship is North Otago, let's think about who could appear in an Old Gold jersey using the origin rule.
My immediate thought was Richie McCaw, the All Black captain and openside flanker par excellence who grew up in the Haka Valley and played age group rugby for North Otago before, tragically, being sent to Otago Boys rather than Waitaki Boys.
After playing for the All Blacks, he could pop down to Oamaru for a week or two and play for North Otago, or at least sit on the bench behind Ross Hay.
The problem is the eligibility rules rule McCaw out.
He was in Dunedin by his third form year, so there's no way he played three years of school rugby in North Otago between 12 and 18. Shame.
The only player from my alma mater, Waitaki Boys, to have done much in the past 10 years is Ben Hurst, who memorably made his Crusaders debut in the 2000 Super 12 semifinal and later captained Canterbury.
Hursty probably still has a decent pass, but his job these days is running childcare centres, not backlines.
That just leaves one man.
A son of St Kevins, a solid centre and a classy bloke.
Matt Saunders, North Otago needs you.
• The barbs are out again
Another northern critic has been banging on about the Highlanders and suggesting they should be pulled out of the Super 14.
Peter Jessup, a league writer and experienced member of The New Zealand Herald sports department, boldly went where many, many have gone before when he argued the Highlanders should be disbanded.
"Increasingly, it looks like time for the Highlanders to head for the hills," Jessup droned recently.
"Otago and Southland simply do not have the player depth to keep competing at the Super rugby level as evidenced by their heavy reliance on the draft.
"The combination of low population and therefore limited market, plus poor performance over recent seasons and the probability that they will continue to miss the play-offs, makes it likely they will struggle to find sponsors willing to fork out the big sums that would draw quality talent and keep it.
"On that showing, southern rugby does not deserve a multimillion-dollar investment."
Yaaawwwnn.
This argument is so tired I don't know what to say.
I could point out the days of viewing the Super 14 teams as provincial combinations are long gone.
The five franchises are New Zealand Rugby Union-owned, geographically spread collections of professional rugby players.
Provincial boundaries are meaningless.
Or, if I was being really mean, I could point out the Blues have made the Super semifinals only twice - TWICE - in the past 10 years, during which period Jessup's hated Highlanders have managed to make the play-offs three times.
But all that's left is to point out that Jessup is a league writer.
Who follows the Warriors. Who got about 5000 fans to their home games when they were in the middle of a nasty losing streak last year. Who regularly have seven Australians in their starting 13. When New Zealand is the rugby league world champion.
Case closed? Please, at least for another year.
• Don't pass it, Roy
What an extraordinary effort from Kelly Brazier to score 64 points in a women's club rugby game last week.
But I'm still scratching my head about the theory the New Zealand record is the 87 points Roy Nieper scored for - wait for it - Caversham Primary School against North East Valley in 1927.
Can this possibly be verified?Did little Roy scoff down his playlunch, roll up his sleeves and score 15 tries between the jerseys?This is the only record I've ever heard of at primary school level.
It makes you wonder about its veracity and relevance.
• Running up the score
Even Roy Nieper's 87 points plus Jeff Wilson's 66 points plus Kelly Brazier's 64 points plus Simon Culhane's 45 points wouldn't add up to 350.
That is apparently the world record rugby score, posted by French third division side Lavardac in 1984 when its opposition, Vergt, refused to tackle in protest at having players suspended.
• A Kiwi in the Tigers
Ben Loughrey-Webb was at Bayfield High School a couple of years ago but recently scored a try at one of Australian rugby league's iconic grounds.
Loughrey-Webb (19) was playing for the University of Technology Sydney Tigers in the New South Wales tertiary competition at Leichardt Oval.
The second-rower lived out the dreams of his father, Otago Daily Times reporter and Wests (formerly Balmain) Tigers fanatic David Loughrey, when he crossed between the sticks.
Loughrey-Webb was born on September 24, 1989 - the day the Canberra Raiders beat Balmain 19-14 in the grand final.
