NZ Rugby appear to have pulled the rabbit out of the hat by keeping hold of Hurricanes star Fehi Fineanganofo, according to a report in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
It was announced in January that the wing had signed a contract with Newcastle Red Bulls, which would see the speedster leave for the PREM and rule him out of the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n
That deal did not attract too much attention at the time but, after a storming start to the campaign, concerns began to grow that the All Blacks were potentially losing one of the most gifted wide players in the world.<\/p>\n
Equalled Super Rugby record<\/p>\n
Fineanganofo has continued to impress since then and recently equalled the Super Rugby<\/a> try-scoring record of 16.<\/p>\n However, host of the GBRANZ podcast Andy Rowe is claiming that the 23-year-old will now renege on his Newcastle deal and stay in New Zealand, making him available for the national team.<\/p>\n \u201cI have woken up this morning to some news, and it\u2019s good news for New Zealand rugby fans and Hurricanes fans, and terrible news for the Newcastle fans,\u201d Rowe told Sport Nation.<\/p>\n \u201cMy sources on the ground in Newcastle are telling me they\u2019re very, very upset that the deal is off.<\/p>\n \u201cMy understanding from the way that the news was leaked to me from Newcastle was they were very upset that New Zealand Rugby had \u2013 quote, unquote \u2013 blocked the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Zealand Rugby Union have done what we all hoped they\u2019d do, pulled some strings, done a Waisake Naholo and said: \u2018Mate, you\u2019re pretty much guaranteed to be in the All Blacks squad, so stick around, we\u2019ll give you a black jersey and we\u2019ll give you a long-term contract\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n World Rugby regulations creating \u2018delicate\u2019 NZ Rugby situation with All Blacks \u2018highly active\u2019 in pursuit of Super Rugby\u2019s hottest prospect<\/a><\/p>\n It was recently revealed by New Zealand Herald that NZ Rugby were still working behind the scenes on the Fineanganofo situation and that could well have paid off.<\/p>\n Earlier in the month, Hurricanes<\/a> coach Cory Jane, who has worked closely with the wing over the past two seasons, put pressure on the governing body by urging them to step in.<\/p>\n \u2018Get him out of his deal\u2019<\/p>\n