All Blacks and Crusaders star Leicester Fainga’anuku’s impending departure is a chance to break rugby’s bad habit - Gregor Paul

Crusaders winger Leicester Fainga'anuku is set to leave New Zealand after the World Cup. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

It’s almost certain that some entity other than New Zealand Rugby is going to enjoy the best years of Leicester Fainga’anuku’s career.

The 23-year-old is reportedly leaving for Toulon after the World Cup, and while his loss will be a hammer blow to New Zealand Rugby (NZR) on multiple levels, the collective challenge is to ensure that he’s not punished for making the decision to take his talents to Europe.

It is almost 30 years since rugby turned professional and it should be that career decisions are not viewed through an emotional lens or faintly tagged with insinuations of disloyalty.

But it seems that New Zealand, without a particularly long association with professional sport, continues to have its own inconsistent means of determining who can leave with the country’s blessing and who should be seen as something of a disappointment.

Some players can leave as heroes, their decision to leave New Zealand wrapped in a narrative of long service, loyalty and commitment to the cause having earned them the right to take their talents to high-paying offshore clubs.

That’s why the likes of Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett can all expect to be part of the All Blacks World Cup squad this year without a single question being raised about whether their respective selections are in the long-term interest of New Zealand rugby, given all are leaving for offshore contracts after the tournament.

But then, as we have seen in the past, some players who haven’t been around for so long - and think here Charles Piutau, Steven Luatua and Lima Sopoaga - weren’t afforded the same glowing tribute as they made their way to the departure gate.

Charles Piutau (centre) and Steven Luatua (right) both left New Zealand before entering their prime rugby years. Photo / Photosport

Piutau, when he left New Zealand in 2015 for a contract with Wasps, was cast as a pariah.

When he rejected a contract extension to stay in New Zealand, too many people took it personally and suggested he was making a terrible mistake.

The inference was that at 23, he couldn’t possibly know his own mind and given his likely future as an All Blacks superstar, there was some sort of deep-seated character failure preventing him from seeing sense.

They referred to his decision as disappointing, in the same tone in which a headmaster might address a pupil having been found vaping in the toilets.

The greater punishment, however, was not being picked for the All Blacks World Cup squad - a decision that was, partly, influenced by Piutau not committing to play in New Zealand, while both Nehe Milner-Skudder and Waisake Naholo had.

Based on history, we should assume that when Fainga’anuku’s decision to leave New Zealand is confirmed, there will be ample use of the word “disappointing” associated with his name.

We can expect media commentary that alludes to this being the wrong decision and questions posed as to just how good he could have become had he opted to sign on for another four years in New Zealand.

And we can expect this because despite the fact thousands of young Kiwis head overseas every year in search of greater opportunity and adventure, rugby players of the same age seeking the same new challenges are seemingly destined to forever be viewed as unreliable, flighty or simply badly misguided.

There is no basis for this, no way to explain why so many people in the rugby system and the rugby public feel the way they do about any player under the age of 25 choosing to leave New Zealand, but it is there, and it is real.

Fainga’anuku’s impending departure is an opportunity for a bad habit to be broken.

He may only be 23, but he’s won four Super Rugby titles already and shown himself to be the best power runner in New Zealand.

He’s also demonstrated this year that he’s growing his game and while the foundation of his excellence is his ability to break tackles, there’s been an improved accuracy about his passing and decision-making this year, while he looks genuinely comfortable competing for the ball in the air.

His consistency over the last five years has earned him what is presumably a much-improved contract in France, and rather than condemn him for taking that and hinting at what he’s leaving behind, why not congratulate him on having piqued the interest of European suitors?

But most importantly, he has to be part of the All Blacks World Cup squad this year, and his decision to leave can’t come into the equation.

None of the long-servers who are leaving will have that held against them and Fainga’anuku, however hard it may be for some to accept, is a player who needs to be embraced and cherished for however long he remains here.