All Blacks going on sabbaticals should not be coming back to New Zealand Rugby
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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Comments on RugbyPass
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 commentsNo way. If you are trying to picture New Zealand rugby with an All Blacks mindset, there have been two factors instrumental to the decline of NZ rugby to date. Those are the horror that the Blues have become and, probably more so, the fixture that the Crusaders became. I don’t think it was healthy to have one team so dominant for so long, both for lack of proper representation of players from outside that environment and on the over reliance on players from within it. If you are another international side, like Ireland for example, sure. You can copy paste something succinct from one level to the next and experience a huge increase in standards, but ultimately you will not be maximizing it, which is what you need to perform to the level the ABs do. Added to that is the apathy that develops in the whole game as a result of one sides dominance. NZ, Super, and Championship rugby should all experience a boom as a result of things balancing out. That said, there is a lot of bad news happening in NZ rugby recently, and I’m not sure the game can be handled well enough here to postpone the always-there feeling of inevitable decline of rugby.
6 Go to commentsNo SA supporter miss Super Rugby - a product that is experiencing significant head wind in ANZ - the competition from rival codes are intense, match attendance figures are at a historical low and the negativity of commentators such as Kirwan and Wilson have accelerated the downward spiral in NZ. After the next RWC in 2027 sponsors will follow Qantas and start leaving in droves.
2 Go to commentsLike others, I am not seeing the connection between this edition of the Crusaders and the All Blacks future prospects under Razor. I think the analysis of the Crusaders attack recently is helpful because Razor and his coaching team used to be able to slot new guys in to their systems and see them succeed. Several of Razor’s coaches are still there so it would be surprising if the current attack and set piece has been overhauled to a great extent - but based on that analysis, it may have been. Whether it is too many new guys due to injuries or retirement or a failure of current Crusaders systems is the main question to be answered imo. It doesn’t seem relevant for the ABs.
6 Go to commentsharry potter is set in stone. he creates stability and finishes well. exactly what schmidt likes. he’s the ben smith of australian rugby. i think it could quite easily be potter toole and kellaway for the foreseeable future.
5 Go to commentsThis is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks 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 commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
6 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
5 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf 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 commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
2 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to comments