Richard Loe is the latest voice to criticise the criteria for inclusion in New Zealand's new domestic structure in The New Zealand Herald.
"I am one of those people who think the new provincial rugby championship structure should be sorted out on the field.
"Either take out the bottom four from this year or, as a lot of people have suggested, the bottom four from last year. That would mean Auckland would miss out and would start next year in Division One, along with North Harbour, Counties Manukau and Manawatu.
"So what if it is a big union that has to take the slide? When I first started playing for Waikato, they were a second division side. That was the time, 1986, when Warren Gatland, Graeme Purvis and I began playing together and we beat North Harbour in the crucial play-off and went up to first division.
"I think it's good that the NZRU are finally getting to grips with the need to reduce the number of teams - pretty much everyone agrees that 14 is too many. But I don't agree with the criteria they have sorted out to find the top 10 who will make up the Premier Division. Population, player development, player and referee numbers, financial performance - what the hell have they got to do with it?"
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