Aotearoa Rugby Pod | Episode 2: Bryn Hall, James Parsons respond to sensational player poll results
The release of results from an anonymous player poll this week has shed the light on the real opinions of professional players about the state of the game in New Zealand.
The findings, which stem from a 40-question survey conducted by NZME‘s Sam Casey among “over 100 players” in Super Rugby Aotearoa, have been revealing to say the least.
Perhaps the biggest discovery was that almost half of the players polled disagreed with New Zealand Rugby’s decision to appoint Ian Foster as All Blacks head coach, while a further 26 percent were unhappy with his selection of assistants.
One of the other significant revelations throughout the week was that more than half of those surveyed believe that NZR isn’t doing enough to keep its talent from heading overseas.
In recent years, there have been many star players who have turned their back on playing for the All Blacks either prematurely or in the prime of their career to instead ply their trade for cashed up clubs in the UK, Europe and Japan.
The riches on offer in the Northern Hemisphere club game dwarfs that what of NZR and Super Rugby can provide, leaving the national union and the five Kiwi franchises with an uphill battle to keep hold of their players.
The concept of sabbaticals, whereby players re-commit themselves to the All Blacks and NZR on long-term deals with the option to take up a short-term contract abroad, usually Japan, has since become an oft-used clause in contract negotiations for New Zealand’s top stars.
The most recent example of a New Zealand star utilising a sabbatical clause is Blues playmaker Beauden Barrett, who will join Top League giants Suntory Sungoliath next year on a deal reportedly worth $1.5m before returning to New Zealand following Super Rugby.
Barrett last year inked a four-year contract with the Blues and NZR that will see him stay in New Zealand until 2023, but whether he would have stayed in his homeland is doubtful had the option to take a sabbatical overseas was unavailable.
Still, it seems the majority of New Zealand’s playing contingent believe there isn’t enough being done to maintain the nation’s playing talent.
However, Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall and Blues hooker James Parsons have leaped to NZR’s defence in their most recent appearance on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
Speaking ahead of his side’s top-of-the-table Super Rugby Aotearoa clash against Parsons’ Blues this weekend, Hall said NZR had struck a good balance between the development of young players and the retention of established stars through the evolution of sabbaticals.
“We’ve done pretty well, considering 10 years ago, I think the ability to have a sabbatical was foreign, it never happened, whereas now there’s an understanding in the market that you need to evolve and to keep our players here as well,” the three-time Super Rugby champion said.
“Bringing in the new stars, and being able to see those guys go away, and bring in a new cab of ranks – the guys we’ve been talking about, the new superstars coming through, the young fellas coming through – you’ve just got the opportunity to play because they’ve gone.
“I think we’ve got the balance really good. I think we can keep continuing to try and keep the older guys here, especially guys like Beaudy who are getting sabbaticals, but keep continuing to grow our young fellas, giving the opportunities to perform at a high level early in their careers.”
Parsons doubled down on his North Harbour teammate’s comments, highlighting that the lure of the All Blacks jersey is still evident despite the outflow of players abroad.
“I think we’re world-leading in terms of the sense that we’ve really kept the power of the All Black jersey whilst giving guys the opportunity to do sabbaticals or make some extra cash on the side, because we don’t want to get to a point where we’re selecting from overseas,” the two-test All Black said.
“Keeping that aura and the power of that All Black jersey is the key to success, and I think New Zealand Rugby’s got the balance of that right.”
Many have speculated that the COVID-19 outbreak could reduce the number of players who leave New Zealand for overseas contracts given the financial implications that have come with the pandemic.
Players and staff worldwide have been made redundant and forced to take pay cuts as a result of the sudden halt in games, but Hall said the way in which the situation has been handled in New Zealand has been “fantastic” compared to other nations.
“The alignment of the New Zealand [Rugby] Players’ Association, all the teams that were involved in having open-minded communication and trying to talk around solutions and everything like that,” he said.
“You hear about the Aussie boys and the amount of complaining that was happening over there.
“I think considering how we went through and the kind of leadership that we showed, with [Parsons] and the boys leading that, at the front of that, trying to see what the best for us was as players, I think we in New Zealand are in a pretty good stead of how we went through that COVID situation.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments