New Zealand rugby must learn important lessons from Ireland - Gregor Paul

Bundee Aki (left) and James Lowe celebrate Ireland's second-test win over the All Blacks in 2022. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

New Zealand is set to embark on a review of its elite talent pathways and while there are assurances from rugby headquarters that there are no preconceived outcomes in mind, it’s hard not to believe the whole point of the exercise is to become a lot closer in alignment to the Irish system.

High-performance loves trends and a flavour of the month. There is no doubt that Ireland, who have punched above their weight for the past decade, are currently being viewed as the country to emulate.

New Zealand, it seems, only needs a bit of a tidy-up for its high-performance pathways and overall professional set-up to fall almost precisely in line with Ireland’s.

The two nations have broadly similar set-ups as it is. Ireland run with four professional club sides, New Zealand five – with both systems centralised so the players are owned and paid for by the respective national unions.

It’s a system that gives the national selectors the ability to heavily manage player workloads, look after injuries and mental wellbeing and give individuals co-ordinated conditioning and skill-development plans.

The only real difference between New Zealand’s system and Ireland’s is a bit of messy stuff around the role of provincial unions and Super Rugby clubs in talent identification and development.

The review that will begin shortly is essentially going to transfer responsibility for elite talent development to the Super Rugby clubs, and get rid of this nonsense where local stakeholders fight each other for teenagers when they should be aligned and operating in the player’s best interests.

Giving Super Rugby clubs greater control over younger players will be seen as the last step towards bringing New Zealand into line with Ireland, except it won’t be, as one significant difference between the two country’s overall philosophy will remain.

Ireland continue to look outside their borders for players and actively recruit individuals – some with Irish heritage some without – to patch potential holes in their depth chart.

They develop plenty of talent from what is available domestically but they are not afraid to look internationally to bolster their ranks.

It is a policy that sparks all sorts of different views, but it’s entirely within the parameters of the current eligibility laws and ultimately a critical reason why the Irish have been able to sustain their place at (or near) the top of the world rankings.

Their team that won the Six Nations this year contained three Kiwis – Bundee Aki, Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe – while they have previously signed Kiwis such as Jared Payne and Michael Bent to bolster their national side.

This desire and ability to scour the world for prospective talent is why Ireland’s system is more sophisticated than New Zealand’s.

They do deep-drill analysis of their playing stocks, projecting up to five years ahead, to be certain they will have continuity of talent available for their national team and it’s not a coincidence that after losing Brian O’Driscoll to retirement in 2014, two years later they had Aki come through to establish himself as the best midfielder in the world game.

In similar fashion, as the brilliant Connor Murray started to feel his age, in came Gibson-Park at halfback to take Ireland’s game to the next level.

So, as New Zealand prepares to push its development system ever closer to Ireland’s, it’s interesting to ponder whether there will be any appetite to look offshore to add to the talent pool.

There’s an argument that already happens – not scientifically or purposefully – but through the constant arrival of teenagers into New Zealand schools from the Pacific Islands.

These young men arrive under the auspices of an educational opportunity, but invariably they are coming to play rugby. The likes of Samisoni Taukei’aho, Shannon Frizell and Sevu Reece arrived in New Zealand in their mid-teens to finish their schooling.

Samisoni Taukei'aho scores a try for the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport

But perhaps the opportunity is there to be deliberate and targeted with player recruitment and follow Ireland’s lead of scouring the world.

There are New Zealand-eligible players in Australia who could be pulled into the system. There are also players in the UK and France who have strong Kiwi connections – many of whom may even have gone some way through the New Zealand development system before leaving.

England have picked up Ethan Roots, who had a season for the Crusaders, and they have reclaimed Chandler Cunningham-South, who was born in England but went to high school and university in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s high-performance network doesn’t currently seem to have much interest in who is playing offshore – presumably because it doesn’t feel a need to look further afield to supplement talent in the domestic system.

But that stance is starting to feel outdated and prohibitive and if New Zealand really wants to emulate Ireland, it needs to start looking globally for All Blacks.