Paul Lewis: The real issue behind the All Blacks’ first-five exodus

Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett will both be heading offshore after the World Cup. Photo / Photosport

OPINION:

Rugby people in the northern hemisphere may have to forgive those in the south enjoying a bit of schadenfreude as they recognise the irony of claims that the British game is being weakened by player drift to lucrative contracts in Japan and France.

New Zealand rugby has had to contend with this for decades - and the heightened air of anxiety over the All Blacks recently has produced some fresh calls to allow the selection of New Zealand players stationed overseas.

At the heart of this issue, of course, is money - money, control and player vulnerability were behind the strike threat by Wales players ahead of the Six Nations clash with England. Player contracts hadn’t been finalised, part of the deal was that 20 per cent of their salary would be performance-based (which can seem a euphemism, in tough times, for a salary cut) - and the players wanted an amendment to the rule that only those with 60 international tests could be selected from overseas to play for Wales (it was cut to 25 tests).

That’s because more English and Welsh players are heading for bigger contracts in France and Japan as British rugby comes to grips with alarming financial issues, illustrated by the descent of the Wasps and Worcester Warriors clubs into administration.

England fears a post-World Cup exodus; recent England captain Courtney Lawes, in calling for a relaxation of the eligibility rules, expressed sentiments that could have come from anyone in New Zealand during the last 25 years.

“It’s such a big difference in France with their wage cap compared to ours,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “A French club could put a value on a player... Premiership teams are never going to find enough money - or maybe they have got enough money but the wage cap says you can’t spend it.

“It’s tough to watch rugby in general in this state and British rugby struggling like this,” said Lawes. “Obviously we’ve got a lot of players leaving the Premiership this season, bloody good players could quite easily play for this [England] team, a lot of whom are in their prime.”

Former England captain Courtney Lawes. Photo / Getty Images

Really? Try coping with it for 25 years. In New Zealand, calls to allow overseas All Blacks to be chosen have intensified recently, principally because senior first five-eighths Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga are heading overseas after this year’s World Cup.

This is nothing new. After the 2011-2015 twin triumphs, the All Blacks lost serious tonnage. Nine senior All Blacks were gone immediately after the 2015 World Cup, or a year or two later: Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Tony Woodcock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith and Julian Savea; Ma’a Nonu continued to play in New Zealand but retired ahead of the 2019 Cup.

Even with wholesale departures (in all, 19 of the 2015 squad were gone in the next four-year cycle), it wasn’t absences which cost the All Blacks their semifinal loss in 2019. It was a near-perfect display from England which, you could argue, has disturbed the All Black psyche and mantle of invincibility since.

Selection of only New Zealand-based players is predicated on the basis that, if chains are loosened, too many would head overseas to the big bucks. The pull of being part of the All Blacks’ undeniable legacy is a preventative measure. Generally speaking, it’s worked.

Former All Blacks skipper Sean Fitzpatrick called for selecting overseas players back in 2008 in one of his Herald on Sunday columns, saying overseas contracts had led to a lack of depth and quality in New Zealand rugby. By 2015, he’d changed his mind, saying in an interview that overseas contracts were a good idea as it gave players money, a different lifestyle, and the ability to return to play for the All Blacks (after successful “sabbaticals” arranged by New Zealand Rugby to keep players at home long-term).

However, he said, the All Blacks “need to keep winning” to preserve their legacy. Key point, that. Winning has been less seen in the context of the All Blacks recently.

If we’re talking first fives, three were lost after the 2015 Cup: Carter and Colin Slade finished up, while Aaron Cruden headed to France in 2017. Barrett was part of the 2015 squad, having made his All Blacks debut in 2012. Mo’unga made his in 2017. It was a relatively smooth transition.

If we’re short of first fives behind Barrett and Mo’unga, that’s at least partly due to the fact there have been few younger players blooded behind them - a selection issue, not a talent issue.

By my count, there are up to 10 possibilities for the All Black No 10 jersey during the next cycle - headed by Damian McKenzie and the silky-skilled Stephen Perofeta. They include youngsters Ruben Love, Aidan Morgan and Brett Cameron of the Hurricanes, Fergus Burke, one-test All Black Josh Ioane (who showed his undisputed but underdeveloped talent against the Crusaders on Friday night) and maybe even the 19-year-old Crusader Taha Kemara.

Has player exodus affected the production of world-class 10s here? Not really - name an overseas Kiwi with the class to slot in to first five now. There’s really only 32-year-old Lima Sopoaga - so surely it’s better to develop local talent than re-import Barrett and/or Mo’unga.

Overseas selection may come to pass one day - but that day surely isn’t now.