New Zealand just needs to look at the NPC to change eligibility laws

I’m the last person to do something just because everyone else is. 

If I’m in a room with 10 other people who swear something is black, I’ll inevitably mount an argument that it’s white. 

But when I see Rugby Australia suggesting they’ll go the way of SA Rugby and happily pick players from overseas, I can’t help feeling it’s time New Zealand Rugby (NZR) followed suit. 

All Black legend Carlos Spencer on Rugby Champs for the women’s game

All Black legend Carlos Spencer on Rugby Champs for the women’s game

Australia doesn’t boast the same talent pool as New Zealand and it’s just not economically viable for all the elite Springboks to represent teams at home, so I concede we’re maybe not talking apples and apples here. 

However, it’s not like Jordie Barrett is in the All Blacks on the back of a stellar 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season or that Ardie Savea’s isn’t going to be picked from Japan next year. 

By hook or by crook, NZR has justified selecting All Blacks from offshore sabbaticals for years now. 

A couple of things caught my eye in the last week or so, regarding this country’s depth of talent. 

The first was the selection of the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship squad, which contained any number of players picked above their station, as well as comments from NZR’s general manager of community rugby Steve Lancaster. 

He was speaking on the topic of the NPC, with the clue as to why he was chosen as NZR’s spokesman clear from his job title. 

Provincial footy is a community-level product now, as Lancaster himself indicated. In selling the competition to the public, Lancaster said the beauty of the NPC is that it enables fans to see players from local schools and clubs represent their province. 

If that’s at suburban grounds, such as the Northern United Rugby Football Club’s home at Porirua Park, so much the better. 

It’s nice that some fringe All Blacks got some NPC footy last week or that lock Sam Darry is making his return from injury in Canterbury colours. But, as All Blacks coach Scott Robertson noted this week, that’s purely for conditioning purposes. 

No-one’s pretending this is high performance rugby anymore. 

And that’s fine. It really is. It’s just that, even if the salary cap for NPC teams is reduced to $840,000, it’s still a pretty pricey community asset. 

Mind you, that’s a mere drop in the bucket when those summoned as injury cover for the All Blacks almost outnumber the actual number of fit players in the squad. 

There’s a few All Blacks that wouldn’t get out of bed for $840,000. At least not without lucrative sabbatical clauses in their contract. 

Guys miss Super Rugby campaigns, as we all know. Heck, All Blacks captain Scott Barrett is sitting out next year’s one. 

The NPC doesn’t appear as if it’s now a meaningful part of the pathway to test rugby, so what are we waiting for or protecting by pretending you have to play in New Zealand to be selected in the All Blacks? 

Not playing for the Waratahs has really stunted Will Skelton’s growth as a rugby player, hasn’t it? 

Look, I’m sure NZR has its reasons for sticking with the established eligibility criteria. But situations change, they evolve and what made sense yesterday maybe isn’t the best idea today. 

Good on Rugby Australia for altering its stance. I’d encourage NZR to do the same.