Brad Weber may be locked in but what about the other off-contract All Blacks?
Let’s get the good news out of the way first.
Brad Weber has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby (NZR), keeping him in the country until the end of 2021.
The nippy halfback has also recommitted to the Chiefs, the Super Rugby side he’s accumulated over 70 appearances for over seven seasons.
Of the All Black’s 31-man squad for last year’s World Cup, five departed New Zealand’s shores upon the tournament’s completion.
A further 19 players are contracted until the end of 2021 or beyond – including Weber.
Continue reading below…
That leaves eight players whose contract situations are unclear after the current season.
Chiefs props Nepo Laulala, Angus Ta’avao and Atu Moli are all currently operating under contracts that end in 2020.
Fellow forwards, Scott Barrett, Patrick Tuipulotu and Shannon Frizell, are in the same boat.
Jack Goodhue is the sole back from the World Cup squad who is still playing Super Rugby in 2020 but has yet to sign on for any further.
There are also a number of fringe All Blacks who are contracted for just the current year, including Vaea Fifita, Luke Jacobson, Gareth Evans, Mitchell Drummond and Matt Duffie.
Whilst it’s certainly not unusual for a player to wait until the final year of their contract to negotiate new terms, NZR have been quick to lock players in at the first opportunity they get.
As a recent example from earlier this month, Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown re-signed with New Zealand until the end of the next World Cup in 2023 but still had a year to run on his old contract.
NZR won’t be hugely concerned about all of the above 13 players whose contracts are coming to an end in 2020.
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Atu Moli, for example, is just 24-years old and won’t yet be attracting major offers from off-shore. Luke Jacobson is in a similar boat.
There are others, however, that could well be causing a few sleepless nights.
Scott Barrett, in particular, stood out throughout 2019 and was arguably New Zealand’s best performing lock – both internationally and in Super Rugby.
Foreign clubs will be circling like vultures for the new Crusaders captain who is entering the prime of his career.
It’s a similar story for Nepo Laulala, who managed to usurp centurion Owen Franks as the All Blacks’ number one tighthead prop in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup.
The 28-year old could well be a key cog in New Zealand’s next run at the Webb Ellis Cup and has slowly been groomed into the All Blacks set-up – but all that development could be lost if NZR can’t lock Laulala in.
Then there’s Patrick Tuipulotu, Shannon Frizell and Vaea Fifita – three men who have been in and out of the All Blacks camp over the past four years.
Tuipulotu put out his best performances for the national side to date last year and could have a starting role in the squad this season, given the absences of Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick from Super Rugby (Retallick won’t be available for national section at all in 2020).
The picture isn’t quite so clear for Frizell and Fifita, who have been given a few opportunities to stake their claims for the No. 6 jersey but not yet taken ownership.
Players like Jared Payne, Bundee Aki and Ben Tameifuna could well have never played international rugby if NZ had been fielding this team in prior years. #AllBlacks https://t.co/yKEZOE18o7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 10, 2020
Both players were left out of the initial World Cup squad and with plenty of young talent coming through the ranks and no major tournament on the horizon anytime soon, their chances to impress the selectors may have come to an end.
It would be a massive surprise if those two weren’t tabling sizeable offers from around the globe – offers that NZR may struggle to compete with.
And while New Zealand will never struggle to replace players in the national set-up, Super Rugby’s quality is decreasing year-on-year thanks to the loss of the mid-tier of players.
Frizell and Fifita, alongside players like Mitchell Drummond and Matt Duffie, are needed to sure up the Kiwi franchises and provide experienced heads for the newbies to learn from and compete against.
Goodhue, of course, is the other major player that New Zealand Rugby will be desperate to keep in the country.
Goodhue is still a young player but he’s already proven that he’s one of the best centres in world rugby and new All Blacks coach Ian Foster will likely be looking for Goodhue and Anton Lienert-Brown to combine as the midfield to take the side to the next World Cup.
As contract negotiations are usually kept almost entirely private, NZR will certainly be negotiating hard with the players and the agents to suss out their futures in the country – but some offers will be simply too hard to refuse.
One way or another, expect plenty of announcements in the upcoming months regarding who will be sticking around in New Zealand and who will be taking their services elsewhere.
Contracted until 2020: Nepo Laulala, Angus Ta’avao, Atu Moli, Scott Barrett, Patrick Tuipulotu, Vaea Fifita, Shannon Frizell, Luke Jacobson, Gareth Evans, Mitchell Drummond, Jack Goodhue, Matt Duffie.
Contracted until 2021: Codie Taylor, Dane Coles, Asafo Aumua, Nathan Harris, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Sam Cane, Ardie Savea, Akira Ioane, Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Brad Weber, Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Bryn Hall, Ngani Laumape, David Havili, Damin McKenzie, Braydon Ennor.
Contracted until 2022: Liam Coltman, Joe Moody, Dalton Papalii, Richie Mo’unga, Sevu Reece, Rieko Ioane, George Bridge, Jordie Barrett.
Contracted until 2023: Tyrel Lomax, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Anton Lienert-Brown, Beauden Barrett.
Unknown: Josh Ioane, Brett Cameron.
WATCH: Check out all of the incredible action coming up in March on RugbyPass.
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments