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All Blacks going on sabbaticals should not be coming back to New Zealand Rugby

By Hamish Bidwell
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

These are hardly the first All Blacks sabbaticals, but they should definitely be the last.

Honestly, if being an elite All Black – because it’s only the better performers and earners who are afforded these paid holidays – is such a chore, then we ought to start car pooling. Yep, I’ll knock up a roster and we can all take turns driving our disaffected stars to the airport.

Not for another sabbatical, mind. No, if having to play rugby in New Zealand really is all too much for these blokes then they’re welcome to go for good.

As it stands, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick are off playing in Japan. Beauden Barrett’s on some kind of extended annual leave, as he tends to be at the start of most seasons, but has also teed up a deal in Japan to be taken in the next year or two.

Whitelock, in an act of true selflessness, will return to New Zealand for the start of the test season when he’ll, presumably, be unveiled as All Blacks captain. No doubt he’ll talk about what an honour and privilege that is, as opposed to hardship that was captaining the Crusaders.

Let’s linger on Whitelock for a minute, who’s contracted to New Zealand Rugby (NZR) until the end of 2023. Should he hang around that long, he’ll attend a fourth Rugby World Cup.

He won’t be an old man, at 34, but will have put a huge amount of miles into the legs. Whitelock’s already played 115 tests and, to be absolutely honest, looked a little jaded by the end of last year’s World Cup.

His mental toughness is legendary but you do wonder about the wisdom of NZR signing him to such a lengthy deal.

Retallick will be back next year and, like Whitelock, is already an all-time All Blacks great. He’s said he considered going overseas for good and, frankly, once a guy’s talking like that, then maybe he should leave.

This idea that NZR have to go cap in hand to these blokes and say ‘pretty please with sugar on top, we’d love you to stay’ is actually kind of pathetic. They prefer to paint it as pragmatic and point to these stints as mechanisms by which guys can refresh, boost their bank accounts and still be a valuable commodity to the All Blacks.

Japanese clubs simply offer more money that NZR can and it’s a win for everyone, we’re told.

Thing is, none of us really begrudge these guys their dough. If they want to earn bigger bucks overseas then, as I said, we’re happy to give them a lift to the airport.

It’s just that when we’re battling away on a fifth, or with luck maybe a tenth, of what the best All Blacks are on, it’s hard to hear them cry poor and say they need a stint in Japan to boost the coffers.

You wonder, too, what some of their younger or less illustrious team-mates make of it.

One of the knocks on Hurricanes forward Vaea Fifita, for instance, was that he started acting like an All Black. Never mind that he actually was an All Black, he quickly found it wasn’t his place to question anything, make a show of his improved pay packet or to ask for some extra time off.

Fifita had got the wrong end of the stick you see. He’d seen other people behave that way and assumed that’s what All Blacks did. More fool him.

Equality and empowerment are among the great All Blacks myths. We’re told of the lengths the team go to to ensure everyone feels valued and able to express their opinions.

“There’s no such thing as a dumb question’’ is a staple of any All Blacks media day, as an experienced campaigner or coach talks about the ways in which they upskill the new boys.

All for one and one for all, etcetera, etcetera.

You wonder if that education includes the promise that, if you do well enough for long enough your reward will be a year off from having to play test and Super Rugby at all.

Unlike our Super franchises, the All Blacks aren’t a new-ish invention. They’ve been around a while now, with many a fine player representing the jersey with distinction.

It’s hard for any team in any sport to replace one good player with another, but year after year, decade after decade, the All Blacks have done that better than most. No matter how storied a player has been, sentiment has rarely been allowed to influence selection.

Sabbaticals are not what rugby in New Zealand is about. They take already well-compensated individuals and put them above the team and that’s not who we are.

We don’t just pride ourselves on playing 15-man rugby here because we think it looks nice, but because it’s about equality and about every person contributing to the success of the team. Of no-one being too dominant and no-one being overlooked.

If guys can’t buy into that anymore, then they’re welcome to go. Only not on sabbatical.

No, it’s time they left for good.

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A
Adrian 17 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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