Dave Rennie has made no secret of his desire to get Brodie Retallick in his All Blacks squad this year, stating as much on his first day in the job.<\/p>\n
Scott Robertson was also quick to address New Zealand Rugby\u2019s no-go policy on selecting overseas All Blacks early in his tenure, as he wanted to get Richie Mo\u2019unga on board, and if that was a mistake, Rennie has made it on day one.<\/p>\n
As things stand, the All Blacks<\/a> coach can only select an overseas-based player if they are on a short-term sabbatical and are contracted to NZ Rugby. Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane\u2019s stints at Leinster are prime examples, with Ardie Savea and Anton Lienert-Brown in Japan at Kobe being two more.<\/p>\n England, Ireland and New Zealand insist that players must ply their club trade locally to be eligible for the national team, whilst Wales have a threshold of sorts in place. Australia have ditched the \u2018Giteau Law\u2019 while the Springboks got rid of their policy when hiring Rassie Erasmus as head coach back in 2018.<\/p>\n Unions denying their head coaches the opportunity to select overseas-based players has been a hot topic, not just in New Zealand, and NZ Rugby have been urged to move with the times.<\/p>\n If they thought that Robertson\u2019s dismissal would end the conversation around All Blacks abroad, they were sorely mistaken as Rennie<\/a> opened Pandora\u2019s Box on day one<\/a>, openly expressing his desire to get Retallick involved.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d certainly jump at it.\u201d<\/p>\n The duo have a history of working together, having done so at the Chiefs and now in Japan with Kobe, while Sam Cane could very well be on Rennie\u2019s radar too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll comment on Brodie Retallick. I get to see him train and play every week. He\u2019s stronger than he\u2019s ever been,\u201d the new head coach told reporters at his first press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s fitter than he\u2019s ever been. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m allowed to, but there\u2019s no doubt you want to win a World Cup, ideally, you\u2019ve got your best players available.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, Richie\u2019s (Mo\u2019unga) coming back, which would be good. He\u2019s been in great form in Japan. And yeah, look, certainly you have someone like a Brodie Retallick coming into the environment. I reckon it\u2019ll really grow the whole group, and if I had the chance to get him back, I\u2019d certainly jump at it.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks head coach announcement: Five takeaways as Dave Rennie raises NZ Rugby issue amid \u2018unavoidable\u2019 Rassie Erasmus parallel<\/a><\/p>\n Eddie Jones, who keeps a close eye on the action in the Japanese Rugby League One competition due to his role with the Brave Blossoms, said that it would be the first thing he would do if he were the next All Blacks coach, dismissing any concerns about his age.<\/p>\n At 34 years old, Retallick is hardly a spring chicken but Rennie doubled down on his take that he is in the best shape of his career and wants to get him involved.<\/p>\n He did so in an interview with All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson on Sky Sports NZ when he was asked about selecting overseas players and possible players that he\u2019d be looking at recruiting back to New Zealand.<\/p>\n Eddie Jones\u2019 verdict on the star New Zealand should \u2018pay double\u2019 to return<\/a><\/p>\n According to Rennie, Retallick is a player that has \u2018earned the right\u2019 to cash in abroad and has served the likes of the Chiefs and All Blacks long enough to be afforded some leeway. He adds that if a new policy was carefully implemented, it wouldn\u2019t result in a mass exodus.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a case-by-case situation, but if you look at South Africa, just about all their players play overseas, and Argentina are the same. The Aussies will grab a few, Scotland can grab from anywhere and they\u2019re a very good side,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019ll be players who earned the right to go overseas and cash in, who have committed to the country with Super Rugby and to the All Blacks, so obviously, a lot of people keep talking about Brodie, I don\u2019t know if I could talk him into coming back for a World Cup, but I\u2019ve already mentioned it to him.<\/p>\n \u201cRichie [Mo\u2019unga] is coming back regardless, so that would be good. 110 former Super Rugby players are playing overseas in big competitions. A lot of those guys now have represented other countries or wouldn\u2019t tick a box to come back and represent the All Blacks, but there\u2019s a handful that do.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Rennie reveals the \u2018advantage\u2019 he has as All Blacks coach and Jamie Joseph\u2019s classy touch after his appointment<\/a><\/p>\n Eager to have the discussion<\/p>\n Robertson said at the start of his tenure that he was approaching the situation around overseas players with an \u2018open mind\u2019 and Rennie has a similar outlook and ready to have the debate with the hierarchy.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be keen to have a discussion around that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI realise it\u2019d be a big move for New Zealand rugby, but I don\u2019t see it being a mass exodus just because you can pick a player from overseas, that\u2019d have to fit some sort of criteria.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone like Brodie Retallick has played over 100 games for the Chiefs and All Blacks, 12 years for each, he\u2019s earned the right to go overseas and cash in and he\u2019s fitter than he\u2019s ever been. He\u2019s never been that strong in a gym. He\u2019ll forgive me for that, but he\u2019s stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cPhil Healey who is our head of performance, and he\u2019s worked with me for a lot of years at the Chiefs, Glasgow and Kobe, has made really big shifts around a lot of those boys and so he\u2019s in phenomenal form, Brodie.<\/p>\n \u201cThe leadership and the aura that he would bring would be massive.\u201d<\/p>\n