Newly appointed New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster has doubled down on the organisation’s eligibility policy, confirming returning first five-eighths Richie Mo’unga will not be selected for the All Blacks’ initial squads for the July series or the tour to South Africa.
Mo’unga has signed an 18-month contractwith New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to return home after spending the past three years with Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo in Japan. The deal begins in July and runs through until the end of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
The timing of the contract means the 31-year-old must first play for Canterbury in the NPC before becoming eligible for All Blacks selection again in October. The NPC season kicks off in late July.
Lancaster said NZR had discussed Mo’unga’s situation internally but had not asked the board to relax the rules at the recent AGM, which require overseas-based players returning to New Zealand to play domestically before becoming eligible for the All Blacks.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine on Weekend Sport, Lancaster reaffirmed the current policy remained the best long-term option for NZR.
“This is something we regularly revisit with the board,” Lancaster said. “It’s a relevant thing for our board as governors of the game to regularly consider and reflect on.
“We haven’t asked the board to relax that policy around Richie. We think the policy works for us. It keeps our best players in New Zealand playing in our competitions.
“We’ve got some world-class players in the same position, and a number of those have committed to stay in New Zealand and play on the basis of the policy. We’ve got to think about the implications of the policy and relaxing the policy at any point in time.”
The same rules also apply to Shannon Frizell, who is currently playing alongside Mo’unga at Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo, but is set to return to New Zealand at the end of the Japan season to link up with Tasman.
Lancaster said All Blacks coach Dave Rennie wanted Mo’unga available for selection, although he had not formally requested an exemption.
When Rennie was announced as All Blacks coach in March, he was asked about the overseas selection policy and said he would love to have former All Blacks lock and test centurion Brodie Retallick available for his squad.
New All Blacks coach Dave Rennie wanted wanted Mo’unga available for selection. Photo / Dean Purcell
Retallick plays for Rennie’s club in Japan, the Kobe Kobelco Steelers.
“Dave’s very clear, he would like Richie to be available for selection because his job is to ultimately win the World Cup next year and he wants the best talent available to the All Blacks,” Lancaster said.
“That’s a really healthy tension for us to have, where we’ve got a coach who rightly has a focus on winning today and tomorrow, and then we’ve got ourselves as the administrators of the game who have to have a systems lens and a medium to long-term lens on what’s best for the game.”
While the current policy means Mo’unga will miss the initial squads for both campaigns, Lancaster said he could become available for the latter stages of the South Africa tour if injury strikes in the All Blacks squad, similar to what happened with Leicester Fainga’anuku last year.
“Once Richie’s back in New Zealand and playing and if we do have injuries, then potentially he could be eligible,” Lancaster said.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
