Todd Blackadder, the coach in charge of Richie Mo’unga and Shannon Frizell’s new Japanese club Toshiba, says allowing All Blacks to be selected from overseas would have a “massive impact” on the whole of New Zealand rugby.
In the wake of All Blacks skipper Sam Cane’s lukewarm endorsement of any potential policy change from New Zealand Rugby during his first press conference as a major signing for Tokyo club Suntory, Blackadder, a former All Blacks captain himself, said such a change would require a huge amount of work and inevitably have unintended consequences.
“I don’t think it will happen for a while,” Blackadder told 1News in an interview this week.
“It’s really going to come down to governance models. There’s so much that has to be unpicked. It’s not so much about the selection policy - it will have a massive impact on grass roots rugby, it will have a massive impact on school rugby and it will have a massive impact on provincial rugby, plus the All Blacks of course.
“There’s also the management of players to consider – there’s more to it than ‘we just want the ability to pick guys from overseas’.”
The recent comments from Cane, who will miss next year’s Super Rugby Pacific season but return in time to be available for the All Blacks in July, has fanned the embers of a fire which began again in earnest with those by Scott Robertson in April.
The then incoming All Blacks coach told media: “One thing they [NZR] have said to me is a bit of forward thinking and challenging the norm here. So we’ll have conversations.
“You’ve got to be a step ahead. If you’re a step behind and then changing rules, that’s when you get caught.”
“So they will definitely be getting my opinion and my thoughts. I’ll present to the board and where I think the game is heading potentially. But a lot of that will happen after I get in the role.”
The reality is of course that allowing overseas players to be selected will lead to an exodus which will have an immediate effect on Super Rugby, an already sparsely-attended competition which would be robbed of its best and most experienced figures.
And, according to Blackadder, even those abroad deemed good enough to qualify could be penalised via their pay packets.
“When you’re playing around the world… those clubs may not always be willing to release those players and if they were willing to then they would probably be on reduced contracts.”
The “conversations” as Robertson and now Cane have described the potential debate about NZR’s selection policy, is particularly relevant to first-five Mo’unga, a 29-year-old in the unique position of leaving the All Blacks at the peak of his powers who said on his arrival at Toshiba that he has no thoughts about returning.
Mo’unga, a potential prime candidate to benefit from a change in NZR's selection policy, has signed a three-year contract and has said the money will help secure his family’s future but that the experience was just as important.
Loose forward Frizell, also 29, is on a two-year contract and also became an automatic All Black selection, including at last month's World Cup.
Blackadder said Mo’unga’s comments proved his commitment to the club when the perception of some outsiders might be that he had come only for the money.
“The money is really competitive over here, I won’t deny that, but it’s not just about that – it’s about life experience,” Blackadder said.
“The way they have both slotted into the team has been fantastic. They came in for a week and watched our systems and slowly integrated themselves without any pressure on them and last weekend we gave them 40 minutes each just to get a sweat in the jersey and start getting used to all the calls and their teammates.
“They both had a good 40 minutes each and I think they already feel part of the team. The culture we have here at Toshiba has made them feel really welcome.”
Mo’unga, who directed the Crusaders to seven championships in seven years, and Frizell helped Toshiba to a pre-season victory over Kubota. Both will be available for Toshiba’s first competition game a week on Saturday.
Japan captain and former Chiefs loose forward Michael Leitch is Toshiba’s skipper. Other internationals at the club include former Crusaders midfielder Seta Tamanivalu and Blues lock Jacob Pierce.
Blackadder, Robertson's predecessor at the Crusaders, left for English club Bath after the 2016 Super Rugby season. He spent four years in Bath and is now heading into his fifth season at Tokyo-based Toshiba.
Asked about the expectations on his recent high-profile All Blacks signings, Blackadder said: “I want them to come in and really enjoy their rugby. Both are at the peak of their powers. Richie as a 10 was voted the No.1 at the World Cup. He’s world class. What I want him to do is have a different experience here.
“Leaders are always going to be leaders – I want him to do that in his own way here and to grow as a person.
“Players like those two hold themselves to account. We didn’t bring Richie here to drive the team, we brought him in to really enjoy what he’s doing and if he does that he’ll give so much more and really feel a connection to the place.”
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