The times are a'changing - fast

Sean Fitzpatrick wrote in a column in 2008 to call for overseas players to be selected. Photo / Matt Impey

The gnarled, old Green Bay Packers coach from the NFL, Vince Lombardi, was famed for his much-quoted saying: "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." But he also said: "Winning isn't everything but the will to win is everything."

That is why New Zealand rugby may soon find themselves forced to consider overseas-based players when selecting the All Blacks. Make no mistake, New Zealand Rugby's central contracts system should be preserved for as long as possible. There is no doubt it helps the All Blacks win.

But, as we have seen with the defection of younger players to the big chequebooks of Europe, times are changing - fast. The Australians have reacted by decreeing only players with 60 tests or more can return to play for the Wallabies after an overseas stint. Though most attention has been paid to getting old soldiers like George Smith, Matt Giteau and others back into international rugby it's really about the drain of younger players; those on the cusp of international selection but who are not sure enough of it to pass up the chance of economic security and an adventure. The message is: stay, play 60 tests and then cash in.

Whether overseas player selection will work is moot. The biggest disadvantage is financial control shifts to wealthy European clubs. It requires little imagination to see 'injuries' occurring when international call-ups come, as with football and league.

The only way round that is cast-iron contracts shifting priority to test teams during international windows and such contracts to be enforced with vigour.

The second biggest disadvantage is few players who have done their big OE have returned better. It's fingers-on-one hand stuff and not all fingers at that. The big change is younger players - the Charles Piutaus of this world - heading off.

It has long been feared in New Zealand that second-tier players would cause big problems if headhunted. Without a healthy second tier pushing up, the top tier is isolated, unchallenged and empty once injuries and retirements kick in. Without a competitive domestic competition, the All Blacks future seems a lot greyer.

Sean Fitzpatrick, in a column in this paper in 2008, called for overseas players to be selected, saying: "What changed my mind was an increasing worry it will be bad for New Zealand and world rugby if the All Blacks start to lose because of this lack of depth.

"I was never a fan of opening up the doors before but I think the sabbatical given to Dan Carter and Richie McCaw could open up a can of worms. If we do open things up then, yes, some players - maybe even many players - will leave and go to Europe. But I believe that, by doing so, they will erode the value of overseas players in Europe.

"The clubs don't want to be paying so much for players and opening the doors will see values drop, meaning the NZRU has more ability to keep other players in New Zealand. And it isn't as if our franchise or provincial rugby would suffer a great deal more than it is already. The standard has already dropped and we are now risking such a lack of depth in the All Blacks that we risk losing - and I think that is the last thing the game needs in New Zealand and globally."

That was seven years ago. I remember talking to Fitzpatrick about that column and he was sad things had to change - but adamant they did. He was similarly insistent New Zealand had to win the 2011 World Cup. "To lose would be to announce to the world that the All Black jersey really is losing its magic," he said. "That is not an option."

So let's go back to Lombardi and his "will to win" quote. If the base of New Zealand rugby is weakened and the All Blacks begin to lose more regularly, what happens then?

Fitzpatrick seems right. Opening the doors would likely drive prices down but no one is 100 per cent certain of that. It's a gamble, just as the Australians have gambled.

If younger players leave regularly, the worry is that winning - right throughout the fabric of New Zealand rugby - might be affected. Winning is a habit, a learned behaviour and winning helps build the will to win.

The All Blacks have played for years with the fear of losing. Their opponents often try to beat them by squeezing the life out of them - when some of the best victories have been won by playing the All Blacks at their own game.

There's no way of knowing what will happen but we probably have to embrace overseas selections while our destiny is still in our own hands - and so we don't stand by while Europe picks the plums off the tree of New Zealand rugby and poisons the roots.