Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan predicts more foreign players will be seen in Super Rugby in the years ahead as the pool of local talent is thinned out.
The Chiefs needed to call on overseas reinforcements leading into their 2023 campaign, as a season-ending neck injury to Angus Ta’avao leftthem requiring another tighthead prop. After assessing their options the club signed Ireland international John Ryan, bringing the 34-year-old over on a one-year deal, after which Ryan will return to Munster.
Ryan won’t be the only import in a New Zealand-based Super Rugby team this season, with the Highlanders recruiting English first-five Freddie Burns and Argentinian back Martin Bogado for the season.
McMillan said it was something he expects to see more of as more New Zealand players are lured offshore, with six teams competing for players.
“There are some other competitions going on around the world that are having a real impact on the availability of that next tier of talent in New Zealand,” McMillan said.
“We’ve seen a number of Super Rugby teams last year, this year and probably moving forward who are going to be testing that international market because, in some positions, this is not the competition to be experimenting.”
McMillan said Ryan was as good a like-for-like replacement for Ta’avao in terms of experience at the top level as the Chiefs could have hoped to find. Ryan has played more than 200 games for Munster, while he has 24 test caps and was part of Ireland’s World Cup squad in 2019.
John Ryan in action for Ireland in 2019. Photo / Getty
Experience was a vital part of the Chiefs wishlist in finding a replacement for Ta’avao, given the importance of the position and the relatively fresh faces in the squad.
While Aidan Ross, Ollie Norris and Atu Moli remain with the team, all three are primarily looseheads — although Moli can play on both sides of the scrum having been a tighthead earlier in his career.
Their other tighthead options are George Dyer and Jared Proffit, who both got their first experiences in the Super Rugby environment last year.
“It’s really hard to operate in the game of rugby without a decent tighthead prop,” McMillan said.
“We’ve got six Super Rugby teams in this country, most will have three tightheads – so that’s 18 of your best tightheads already in teams.
“Beyond that, I’m sure there’s some young talent coming through but what we need right now ... we need to protect ourselves against another guy getting a ding. When we looked around the country, there wasn’t that person there so we started searching the globe and just happened to fall on John Ryan.”
