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Sport Nation
Is it time for NZ Rugby to 'flip the script' and lure global superstars to Super Rugby?
Sport Nation • April 29th, 2025 12:00 pm
Antoine Dupont was outstanding in France's big Six Nations win over Wales in Paris | Photo: EPA
Off-shore sabbaticals have increasingly become par for the course for NZ Rugby, with the number of All Blacks taking a brief hiatus to ply their trade off-shore trending upwards by the year.
Anton Lienert-Brown will reportedly become the latest All Blacks veteran to make the jaunt to Japan, having inked a deal with the Kobelco Steelers that will see him miss next year's Super Rugby Pacific campaign with the Chiefs.
His departure comes after Rieko Ioane's announcement he'll be linking with Irish heavyweights Leinster, essentially replacing his All Blacks teammate Jordie Barrett, who's currently starring for the side in lieu of the Hurricanes. Linchpin All Blacks Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett have also made cameos in Japan over the last two seasons.
So, is it time NZ Rugby examined ways to try and reverse that trend and look to attract elite international players to Super Rugby?
"I'd love to see it happen both ways," said former All Blacks Israel Dagg on Sport Nation's Scotty & Izzy.
"I'd love to see the script flipped and players from up in the north wanting to come down here more and be a part of this ecosystem."
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Under current rules, players must be contracted to NZ Rugby to play for a Kiwi Super Rugby franchise.
While the cultural experience is one aspect of the motivation for NZ-based players heading off-shore, the financial lure is undeniably the primary factor in that decision-making.
Super Rugby franchises wouldn't be able to offer the same kind of carrot to European-based players, unless perhaps - as Scotty Stevenson suggests - there was an exception afforded to each to sign an overseas player outside of the salary cap.
Having those kinds of heavyweight names involved would be one means of establishing Super Rugby Pacific as the planet's premier domestic competition, with the one caveat being its potential effect on developing local talent.
That said, you only have to look as far as Wallabies veteran James O'Connor's impact with the Crusaders this season on their young prospects, particularly Taha Kemara and Rivez Reihana.
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"The fact is, New Zealand Rugby has been very protectionist in its policies around player selection, and overseas players in the past have wanted to come and play Super Rugby but NZR have blocked that," notes Stevenson.
"There's a side of me that understands that, because what you're saying is, that's a job that one of our kids could have.
"But is there room perhaps for Super Rugby to look at a marquee overseas signing for each team? To say, well, do we want Super Rugby to be the global powerhouse competition in rugby?
"To say, outside the cap, outside the jurisdiction of Rugby Australia or New Zealand Rugby, you can sign one player who wants to come down and have a crack at this?"
NZR permits Super Rugby franchises to recruit overseas players under specific conditions, particularly when such players are expected to contribute significantly to the development of local talent, as was the case with Leigh Halfpenny's stint with the Crusaders last year.
But in order to attract the cream of the international crop, cheque books would need to be operating outside of those restrictions.
"I just wonder whether there is in the future something to think about saying to the teams, hey, outside the cap, outside the jurisdiction, you've got a chance to bring in a superstar, even if it is a sabbatical.
"Bring in another audience. More numbers, more eyes."
Listen to the full Deep Dive below:
