Former All Black lock Ian Jones has been included in an independent panel that has been charged with investigating the dispute between St Kentigern College and 10 Auckland schools over its rugby recruitment programme.
The coalition of schools agreed to boycott fixtures against St Kents in the 2019 Auckland 1A First XV competition because they believed the rival school had crossed the line when it came to recruiting young rugby talent across the country.
College Sport announced on Thursday an investigation into a complaint made by St Kents against the boycott action taken by the Auckland schools.
St Kents believes the actions of the 10 principals were undermining the college system.
Joining Jones on the panel appointed by College Sport will be former Diocesan School principal Gail Thomas and Wellington barrister Tim Castle.
Head of St Kents David Hodge said recently that he was confident the issue would be resolved in their favour.
"We follow the rules that were agreed and set by College Sport Auckland, and would have expected the most recent issue to have been raised before school enrolments had closed for 2019," he said in a statement.
"We look forward to resolving this matter and to a successful and rewarding season for all teams."
Newshub.
