New Zealand Rugby vetting plans scream of arrogance
With moves to the northern hemisphere confirmed for the likes of Brad Shields, Lima Sopoaga, Charlie Ngatai and Seta Tamanivalu, amongst others, in recent months, it has clearly prompted New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to act.
For some time now, New Zealand, as a nation, have been able to more efficiently retain their players than their fellow southern hemisphere rivals, Australia and South Africa, but with the ever-increasing wages of professional rugby players, that job is getting harder. The fear of an exodus has become real for the All Blacks.
Their response has been to propose a system whereby they will vet and pick preferred clubs in Europe and Japan for current or budding All Blacks to move to for a season or two, before returning to New Zealand and resuming their place at one of the Super Rugby franchises.
Considerations like playing style, coaching set-up and workload will be among the variables debated in this process. It is, in essence, an expansion of the sabbatical system which NZR have had in place for some time now, but with an attempt to have more control over the destination of the player.
It is hard not to see the benefits for the All Blacks here.
Why would you want to send a promising young player, perhaps on the cusp of international recognition, to a side that is going to play slow, attritional rugby for two years and then have them return with their conditioning shot to pieces and many of their skills blunted through lack of use?
Even acknowledging that and understanding that NZR aren’t going to do anything that’s not in their own interests, it still screams of arrogance.
From the implication that theirs is the only way to play and that any other kind of environment would see a player stop learning or even regress, to deeming certain clubs, over whom they have no jurisdiction or official relationship, worthier, is a horrible pill to swallow.
Then there is the impact on the northern hemisphere competitions to consider.
How will the French sides react if Kiwi players are actively told to avoid playing in the Top 14 due to the longer season? Or if Wasps, who it should be noted have just confirmed the arrivals of Shields and Sopoaga, are given preferential treatment over other English clubs?
God forbid NZR have any kind of ruling that Leinster is a more desirable destination than Munster and then push players down that route. There could be full-blown civil war in Ireland over that.
When Kiwi players leave New Zealand to go and play in Europe, NZR aren’t paying their wages. This isn’t some kindly benefactor loaning players to a team and wanting a say in how they continue to be developed, this is a player emigrating, moving to a new country, having their wages paid in full by their new club and no longer having an affiliation with NZR.
The model that NZR runs in New Zealand, all the way from schools rugby and the Mitre 10 Cup up to Super Rugby and the All Blacks, is exceptional. It works, and the All Blacks are the most adept rugby-playing side in the world. No one who has watched rugby over the last few years would dispute that.
At the borders of New Zealand, however, is where NZR’s jurisdiction ends.
The northern hemisphere may have been in the shadow of the southern for most of the professional era, but that is fast changing. England and Ireland are undoubtedly the two key challengers to New Zealand’s dominance of the international game and though Australia showed a brief resurgence midway through 2017, both South Africa and Argentina would struggle in the Six Nations, and the stock of both Wales and Scotland seems to be rising swiftly above them both.
There is plenty for Kiwi players to learn and improve on in the northern hemisphere and having the NZR guide them to clubs that look to mirror the All Blacks as closely as possible, is short-sighted.
The rest of the world has benefited from the intellectual property of Kiwi coaches moving abroad but the tables are beginning to turn somewhat, as there are certainly now lessons to be learned in Europe that could benefit rugby in New Zealand.
New Zealand may be the best Test side in the world, but they are not the moral guardians of the game, nor are they in charge of dictating how the game should be played.
The beauty of rugby is that it’s a game where matches can be won in so many different ways and there is no one ‘correct’ way of playing.
Don’t deny Kiwi players the opportunity to experience something different and broaden their horizons.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI 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.
27 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.
9 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments