Rugby: Offshore stars may be picked

James O'Connor was eligible to play for the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Having failed to change global eligibility laws, the New Zealand Rugby Union is under pressure to provide clarity around its own rules.

As negotiations with the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association progress towards the signing of a new collective agreement, the national body is being asked to firm up its thoughts on extending All Black eligibility to all players involved in Sanzar competitions.

Under the current regulations, the All Blacks can be selected only from players contracted to the NZRU and their respective provincial unions.

With South African franchises able to contract overseas players and pay them well and each Australian franchise able to sign one offshore marquee player, a proposal has been put forward that All Black eligibility be amended.

If the criteria were extended to allow any New Zealand eligible player involved in Super 15 to be selected, then the All Blacks would potentially be able to retain and attract more players than they currently do.

The Australian franchises have been aggressively targeting Kiwi players to fill their marquee slots and the Reds have taken Daniel Braid and the Waratahs Soseni Anesi.

Both men are former All Blacks - Braid played as recently as 2008 and was the 2007 Player of the Year.

Once they signed, that was it; they were no longer eligible for the All Blacks.

While neither Braid nor Anesi would be in line for All Black selection now, the point can't be missed that, in time, the Australians may well lure New Zealanders who are still part of the national set-up.

The South Africans, too, are more open to offshore recruitment and in recent times have signed former All Blacks Keith Lowen and Tony Brown, while Chris Jack played in this year's Currie Cup for Western Province.

The NZRU has refused to budge on picking players from offshore in the past, mainly because of the logistical difficulties of facilitating player release.

With the European club programme in full swing during the Tri Nations, it would be impossible to extract players between August and September.

But with Sanzar competitions aligning with the international programme, there are no such hurdles to clear.

There is also another potential advantage - that several quality Australians with New Zealand heritage would become available.

As an example, Western Force's James O'Connor has a strong New Zealand influence with both his parents being born and bred Kiwis.

Had he been able to stay in Perth and declare his allegiance to New Zealand, he may well now be an All Black rather than a Wallaby.

The NZRPA is not demanding the NZRU make a final decision on the issue - more that it outlines a timeline to explore the possibility.

Both parties believe it can only happen in conjunction with the Sanzar partners so Australia, South Africa and New Zealand all agree the same conditions to ensure that there is even and controlled flow of players between the three nations.