LONG READ Why Dave Rennie is lobbying hard for eligibility changes to bring Brodie Retallick back

Barely 10 minutes into his first press conference as All Blacks coach, Dave Rennie gave a clear indication that like his predecessor Scott Robertson, he’s going to publicly challenge New Zealand Rugby’s eligibility rules.

Rennie, who had just been told he had the job, was holding court at NZR HQ in Auckland alongside chairman David Kirk, giving the media all the expected answers to all the expected questions about how he was feeling and what it meant to have landed the role.

But like a brilliantly planned counter-attack, he switched into surprise mode and made quite the bold statement that he’d like to have access to Brodie Retallick – the veteran All Blacks lock who left New Zealand for Japan after the 2023 World Cup.

Rennie, who gave Retallick his first Super Rugby contract with the Chiefs in 2012 and who has been coaching him at Kobe since 2024, said: “I’ll comment on Brodie Retallick. I get to see him train and play every week. He’s stronger than he’s ever been, he’s fitter than he’s ever been.

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to [pick him] yet. There’s no doubt, we want to win the World Cup, and you need your best players available.”

It was a brilliant way to start his tenure – a guerilla attack on Kirk on an issue that won’t go away at a time when Rennie has enormous goodwill in the tank.

There was a bit of cheekiness about it, too, with Rennie’s sly look at Kirk as he said the bit about not being sure if he could pick him yet.

That was a signal that Rennie, as part of his four-hour interview to get the job, had suggested that the eligibility rules are no longer fit for purpose and that the time has come for the NZR board to re-evaluate its stance and start considering some light touch amendments that could have heavy impact.

He had a bit of leverage as he’s taking on the All Blacks job two years out from a World Cup with an eight-week tour to South Africa to be negotiated in August-September, and he needs the best players he can get if he is to succeed.

Rennie feels there are players with immense value to the All Blacks who are off limits and that it wouldn’t be a catastrophic move by NZR to amend the rules to capture high quality individuals currently contracted to offshore clubs

Robertson felt much the same way about eligibility and tried to lobby the board publicly as well, but he never managed to articulate how he felt the policy – which prevents the All Blacks coach picking anyone who does not have an NZR contract – should be changed.

In the end, it looked like his motivation was simply to enforce an exemption so that Richie Mo’unga could see out his three-year contract with Toshiba and yet still play for the All Blacks.

Privately, Robertson had a good idea which was to extend NZR sabbatical agreements to enable players to spend two consecutive club seasons in Japan yet remain eligible for the All Blacks, and for it to be at the discretion of the coach who qualifies for such a perk rather than automatically offering it when someone has amassed 70 Test caps.

It’s not known what Rennie may have pitched to NZR, if indeed he made any specific recommendations at all.

But he’s obviously on the same page as Robertson, that broadly, he feels there are players with extreme value to the All Blacks who are off limits and that it wouldn’t be a catastrophic move by NZR to amend the rules to capture high quality individuals currently contracted to offshore clubs.

Specifically, he clearly doesn’t think it makes sense for a player like Retallick to be in the best physical shape of his life and yet remain off limits to the All Blacks.

“If you have someone like a Brodie Retallick, coming into the environment, I reckon it would really grow the whole group,” Rennie said. “He’s done a phenomenal job around leadership at Kobe.”

The All Blacks have an emerging cohort of young talented locks, but that enhances the case for the 34-year-old, 109-times capped Retallick to be selected with a remit to mentor the next generation, increase competition and serve on the leadership team.

The prospect of being able to take Retallick to South Africa is one that obviously appeals to Rennie, but currently it can’t happen unless NZR changes its rules.

NZR’s long-standing position has been against any change, with the national body arguing that the current blanket-ban on offshore players remains fit for purpose and protects the game.

It seems, if there is to be any change in policy, it’s most likely to be highly specific – possibly something along the lines of the Giteau Law where players in Japan with a threshold of test caps (70-100) can be picked.

But there has been an executive and high-performance shake-up in the last three months, while NZR’s board had its own cleanout 12 months ago, and so the general thinking could change.

What may accelerate the prospect of a change in policy, is that NZR has created a new position of high-performance director [HPD] as part of a revamped All Blacks set-up.

NZR is hoping to hire a genuine coaching heavyweight to fill the role – and the All Blacks coach will report to the HPD, and the HPD to NZR’s chief executive and that new structure, of itself, will create better communication between the All Blacks and the national body.

There will be a forum, or appropriate platform, for the All Blacks to lobby for any eligibility changes and a powerful voice to advocate on Rennie’s behalf.

And it seems, if there is to be any change in policy, it’s most likely to be highly specific – possibly something along the lines of the Giteau Law where players in Japan with a threshold of test caps (70-100) can be picked.

Restricting any change to Japan-based New Zealanders makes sense given that the Top League and Super Rugby run mostly in the same window.

What’s previously counted against any eligibility change along these lines is NZR’s concern that the quality of rugby and coaching in the Top League isn’t good enough to ready players for Tests.

But that view seems dated, and there has been several high-level Kiwi coaches advocating for the quality of rugby being played in the Japanese Top League.

Rennie, who went to Kobe in 2023 after he lost his job with the Wallabies, told the media that: “The quality is really strong. There are sides up there that would beat Super Rugby teams.”

Other New Zealand coaches such as Ian Foster, Robbie Deans and Todd Blackadder have echoed those sentiments in recent years and Steve Hansen, who joined Toyota Verblitz in 2020, told the NZ Herald in 2024, that it’s not just the quality of rugby that has improved in the last five years, but the quality of the high-performance environments.

“Everyone used to say that the physios here were no good,” Hansen said. “We have got a guy who is as good as anyone as I have ever seen. Beauden Barrett wanted him to move back to New Zealand because he fixed his Achilles. He looks at things differently. There’s plenty of good people like that who are not recognised.”

Time in Japan has mentally refreshed him and physically benefitted him as he’s leaner, quicker, less battered and seemingly, as suggested by Rennie, in good enough form and condition to resume his Test career.

The idea that Japan’s Top League isn’t a competition with the requisite quality to prepare players for test rugby has been debunked, and taking the example of Retallick, it does also seem to have rejuvenating qualities for older athletes.

There seems no likelihood that Retallick, who was 32 at the 2023 World Cup would have had the physical or mental energy to get through four Super Rugby seasons and be in good enough form to be picked at the 2027 tournament.

But time in Japan has mentally refreshed him and physically benefitted him as he’s leaner, quicker, less battered and seemingly, as suggested by Rennie, in good enough form and condition to resume his Test career.

When he was asked about a possible All Blacks return on ZB Newstalk, Retallick said: “Under the current rules, when I left New Zealand, I knew you couldn’t be picked from abroad and I was happy with that. If it changes, maybe it’s a conversation, but right now it’s all hearsay until there’s an actual platform in place.

“We play in four week blocks with a bye week, and that recovery time has been huge. As I got older in New Zealand, I just didn’t recover as quickly.

“That’s probably the biggest factor in being able to keep up with the quicker players here. So I don’t know – there’d be a massive question mark over whether I’d still be good enough.”

The only way to find out whether he’s still good enough is to change the rules and let Rennie decide.