New NZR CEO addresses growing Super Rugby Pacific player exodus

Good to see we have the usual fact free discussion in Rugby Pass. Same everywhere I suppose, so I shouldn't be harsh.

Four of the top five teams in world rugby do not select test players from non-national clubs, France, England, Ireland and New Zealand. Selecting from outside your own is seen to be what it is, a reflection of your own weakness.

So to the one exception in that top five, the Springbok in the room. Contrary to what a lot of people think, the Springboks have never had most of their players playing overseas. Certainly not now. Currently, 22 of the 36 play for SA URC teams. Of the 8 players put on standby, 7 play for SA URC teams. Currently two-thirds of the Springboks, 29 of 44, of their top echelon of players play for SA clubs.

It becomes even less of an issue if you look closer. Of those 15 overseas players in the current squad, 9 are in Japan. The thing is, Japan has no Springboks in their twenties. SA Rugby has directed them there for very specific purpose; to lengthen their time with the Springboks. Lood de Jager, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Franco Mostert, Malcolm Marx, Kwagga Smith, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe and Jesse Kriel are well into their thirties and near the end with the Springboks. Jasper Weise has recently moved into that category. The proportion of Springboks playing in Japan will only decline further as their veteran players age out and are replaced at a significantly lower rate.

Of SA's top 44, only 6 play for non-SA European clubs, all of which play only 22 scheduled games a year. None play in France's Top 14, whose clubs play 30 games a year, because SA Rugby knows from experience that the Top 14 grinds players up and damages them at international level. SA controls where their Springboks play in almost all instances.

SA began choosing players to play for the Springboks because of the financial weakness of their SR teams. SA are now reasserting control of their players and reversing the outflow of players. The reason is obvious. SA sold off their 4 bankrupt SR/URC teams to private ownership. Unsurprisingly those private owners want every lever possible to draw SA players to their clubs. They are pouring huge resources into player development in SA, and are doing a brilliant job. They are not doing that and have them go and play for non-SA clubs. SA Rugby has got on board with that. They are pushing European based players into SA's URC teams, as the recent transfers demonstrate. They are moving to protect their URC teams, not stab them in the back, which is what a lot of NZer's, include Sir Graham Henry, is proposing NZR do to NZ's SRP teams.

People need to work to out the difference between despite and because. SA have won RWC’s in 2019 and 2023 despite choosing players from non-national clubs, not because it has.

So to the NZ defeatists out there, and our South African "friends" who constantly demonstrate their debilitating insecurity by jumping into articles about SRP and NZ and sneering at what they left behind, NZ and SRP have issues which would be solved if they allowed the competition to join the adult world and run it full season. Until that happens, the number of players leaving will continue at the same far too high rate, though it’s in no way fatal.

It was a good interview, he did well. A far cry from how Kirk presented recently on another podcast.

Is this the new dawn of NZR? It sounds much like the same old; deny, distract, defer from the last administration.

There was a brief feel good period when Kirk was running the ship. A man who earned his nous from the real business World, not the rugby administration one.

Rennie was appointed. There was some rare honesty. Action aplenty, and hope for positive change after years of spin and visionless management.

The only thing missing was a change maker at CEO - someone with fresh eyes and ideas on how to confront the many difficult problems NZR face.

Instead we ended up with thier inside man. Again.

Now we have the best comp in the World. Our social followings prove that. Lot’s of talented young players heading overseas is perfectly normal. Empty stands is just an optics problem, nevermind the lack of gate takings is leaving our clubs deeply in the red.

No doubt they will also be comforted by the impresive stats from socials. It’s just a shame likes don’t pay creditors or players salaries.

Clearly there’s nothing to see at NZR HQ - any problems can be talked away. I don’t know what we were all worried about in the first place.

How good is our SRPacific competition which is apparently laughable in comparison to URC, Top 14, Gallagher Premiership, Investec Champions Cup etc…

Unlucky 14 vs 15 players RWC 2023 Finalist…

So we spent all this effin’ $$$ to search the effin’ world for a new CEO to end up with the effin’ guy we put in as a temp anyway.

And he’s the same guy that quit. Mark Robinson shed his human skin and transformed into this guy.

Same bollocks different meat suit.

New Zealand’s overseas coaches also play an integral part in the player exodus to strengthen their teams

The difference between SA and here is their teams are in a quality comp our comp depends on having our players to keep its quality but that still doesn’t account for Bok guys who are playing in Japan this should be the path that NZR should look at with a test and or Super cap imo this may also free up cash to keep some of these others should this also include other parts of the rugby world think sabbatical can handle that

After thinking recently that a fresh breeze was starting to blow through NZR offices, someone has slammed the window shut. The environment has evolved significantly since 1996 but NZR remains stubbornly in their bubble.

So…we’ve got tons of real-world problems (like nobody going to games), but lots of likes on Facebook?? Those are what we call “vanity metrics” Steve and they are not actionable.

The NZR CEO is smoking something if he believes that SR is the most followed online competition in the world. Either smoking something or highly delusional. As usual these NZR appointees run their mouths without stating any facts to backup what they say.

Well here is the truth for all to see. https://www.irishrugby.ie/2025/09/22/53-million-tune-into-urc-as-records-tumble-across-stadiums-screen-social/

NZR CEO solves player exodus by simply redefining the word exodus to “Extended Yoga Retreat”

In a move that has sent shockwaves through the world of people who still think it’s 1996, the new NZR CEO Steve Lancaster has unveiled a revolutionary plan to halt the Super Rugby player exodus: believing really, really hard that players will stay

While reports suggest Stephen Perofeta is the latest to trade the scenic views of Hamilton for the cultural experience of a massive Japanese paycheck, Lancaster remains undeterred

Lancaster told the Breakdown the NZR can do more!!!, presumably while trying to figure out if he could pay the players in Crusaders heritage points or systems validation vouchers

The logic is flawlessly circular: NZR works really hard to keep players, and if they leave anyway, it’s simply because they want to test themselves

It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that a season in Japan pays enough to buy a small island, whereas a season in Super Rugby pays enough to maybe afford rent on a three-bedroom fixer-upper in Invercargill

Lancaster also addressed the pesky issue of stadiums looking like they’re hosting a secret meeting for people who hate crowds

Apparently, we’ve all been looking at it wrong

The constant talk about empty seats is the problem, not the actual empty seats

According to the metrics, everything is tracking perfectly, tries scored, high social media engagement, incredible!!!

Actual humans in the vicinity of the pitch: Optional

Who needs atmosphere when you have a TikTok reel with high engagement?

The NZR’s goal isn’t to sell tickets; it’s to ensure that Super Rugby becomes the world’s first purely digital sports league, unencumbered by the physical presence of fans or, eventually, star players

In a moment of peak administrative comedy, the NZR continues to insist that keeping players locked in a local cage is the only way to survive

They’ve watched the Springboks—a team that treats international borders like minor suggestions—win back-to-back World Cups and thought, terrible strategy, far too many stamps in those passports!

We prefer our fly-halves to have the domestic loyalty of a golden retriever

The genius of the NZR policy remains its beautiful, symmetrical stupidity (akin to a North Korean’ model of athlete loyalty)

We must protect the domestic system at all costs—even if that cost is the system becoming a desert

The NZR’s bold strategy in a nutshell:

-Force the best players to leave because we won't pay them or let them play from abroad

-Refuse to pick them because they left

-Lose to a South African team comprised entirely of guys who live in France, Japan, and the Moon

-Declare the system "validated" because at least nobody had fun

Lancaster insists the eligibility rules are…(checks notes)… fit for purpose

If that purpose is to ensure the All Blacks are selected exclusively from a pool of twenty-somethings who haven't discovered Skyscanner yet, then mission accomplished

The crown jewel of this administrative circus remains the Mo’unga Clause

As Lancaster clarified, Richie is a mercenary traitor on a Monday, but if Damian McKenzie so much as sneezes too hard on a Friday, Richie suddenly becomes a vital national asset who should be flown home in a private jet

It turns out loyalty isn't a moral absolute; it’s a variable based on the integrity of the current fly-half’s ACL

The policy is iron-clad, right up until they start losing by 40 points, at which point the systems lens gets swapped for a panic-induced telescope pointed directly at Tokyo

But don't worry, New Zealand fans

While the rest of the world’s best players are experiencing new cultures and earning generational wealth, you can rest easy knowing your systems are being validated

You might be losing your 10s, our 15s, and your crowds, but you are definitely winning the “World Cup of Rigid Adherence to Outdated Policies”