Rugby: Fringe ABs will head offshore before rush

Tamati Ellison. Photo / Getty Images

A bit like those people who do their Christmas shopping in September, a number of fringe All Blacks are looking to head overseas now to beat next year's World Cup rush.

Tamati Ellison and Anthony Tuitavake have already decided to leave and others are expected to be announced shortly as they cash in on the big deals before the market becomes awash with prime All Blacks.

Inevitably, with so many players coming off contract next year, European clubs will come shopping in New Zealand hoping to land a big fish like Dan Carter or Richie McCaw.

In years gone by, fringe test players have stayed in New Zealand to push for a World Cup place. But New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew senses a new trend where fringe players decide a year out they are unlikely to make it and are leaving before the market is flooded with better options.

"We have a group of players who don't see themselves in the All Black frame," says Tew, "and are deciding to head offshore. It's a pre-wave before the Rugby World Cup cycle."

This new phenomenon creates yet more challenges for the national body who have done extraordinarily well in the past two years to keep players but are not having as much success in luring big names home.

Global markets have gone into overdrive, with the arrival of the Melbourne Rebels helping to inflate salaries and leave New Zealand even further behind in the remuneration stakes.

Such is the gulf between the pay here and overseas, New Zealand now seems able to sign only offshore players who are still haunted by the World Cup and/or have few realistic alternatives.

At the top of the NZRU's list of players they wanted back from Europe were Carl Hayman, Aaron Mauger and Greg Somerville.

None of them are coming home, although Mauger almost certainly would have had he not been forced into retirement.

Hayman and Somerville were pursued hard but felt they had done their All Black dash and both were offered significantly better money to head to Toulon and Melbourne respectively.

Sonny Bill Williams is also on the list of offshore players the NZRU want. The former NRL star has multiple offers, which he will consider when Toulon's season finishes in June. It is believed to be a straight choice between staying with Toulon or moving to New Zealand.

The French are confident they will get their man. That won't stop the NZRU hunting for more of their former stars.

Worcester's relegation has thrown into doubt the futures of Sam Tuitupou, Greg Rawlinson and Rico Gear. The former two would be welcomed back but demand for their services in Europe, where they have been viewed extensively for the past two years, will be high.

And that is the problem for the NZRU - once players are in Europe, they gain a following, become well known to various clubs and their value, as long as they play well, jumps.

That's why the NZRU have struggled to pull back too many players from Europe and throws up questions as to whether Kiwis really can take off at a younger age for a mid-career European sabbatical and then slip back into New Zealand rugby.

That theory gathered momentum in 2007 when Luke McAlister, Mauger and Hayman all left after the World Cup when their All Black careers still had ample time to run.

McAlister has returned but his form to date has been unconvincing, suggesting a couple of years away from the high-tempo Southern Hemisphere game is not that easy to make up.

Chris Jack is back with the Crusaders but his circumstances changed dramatically when Saracens changed ownership midway through his contract and he was suddenly no longer required.

Former All Black Daniel Braid will return to Auckland in July, a move driven as much by his lack of alternative options as it was his desire to have a crack at the World Cup.

With the game in a fluid state around the role opensides currently play, the All Black selectors were keen for Braid to return to bolster their back-up options behind McCaw.

Braid's real preference was to move to the UK but he was unable to secure the sort of offer he was after.