Sir Steven Hansen has staunchly opposed the idea of selecting overseas-based players for the All Blacks, but is warming up to exceptions despite the potential drawbacks.<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s<\/a> most successful head coach says that he will leave the final decision to \u2018wiser men\u2019 than him, but he did delve into trade-offs if NZ Rugby did allow Dave Rennie the leeway to select players plying their trade abroad.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a never-ending debate in Aotearoa whether NZ Rugby should relax the selection policy or not, particularly after South Africa binned their restrictions entirely back in 2018 and went on to win back-to-back World Cups.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s policy is less clear-cut at the moment, but the introduction of the \u2018Giteau Law\u2019 in 2015 was a massive boost for the Wallabies, and currently, Joe Schmidt is permitted to select a handful of players not playing their club rugby on Australian shores.<\/p>\n Outside of New Zealand, Ireland and England remain the two other Tier One nations<\/a> that don\u2019t permit their coaching teams to select players abroad.<\/p>\n Sir Graham Henry\u2019s suggestion on selecting overseas-based players<\/p>\n Hansen\u2019s<\/a> predecessor, Sir Graham Henry, commented on the prospect of loosening the selection policy, saying that he would \u2018allow All Blacks to play overseas\u2019 but would add a reasonably flexible criterion, \u2018maybe 20 Tests\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re bringing back ideas from overseas. What it does for players is it not only develops them as rugby players but develops them as people \u2013 they\u2019re more worldly, they\u2019re more confident. Look at\u00a0South Africa,\u201d the World Cup-winning coach said on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.<\/p>\n The debate raged on for much of Scott Robertson\u2019s tenure as head coach of the All Blacks after he pressed for change in order to select fly-half Richie Mo\u2019unga, who signed a three-year deal with Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n He was joined by Shannon Frizell in leaving New Zealand shores, as well as veteran lock Brodie Retallick. The latter\u2019s form this season in Japan has ignited the conversation yet again, with new All Blacks boss Dave Rennie expressing his desire to select the 100+ Test cap lock.<\/p>\n Sir Graham Henry\u2019s overseas \u2018solution\u2019 to reverse the All Blacks\u2019 decline as ex-NZ Rugby chair makes shock player salary revelation<\/a><\/p>\n Steve Hansen softens hardline approach<\/p>\n Appearing on the DSPN podcast<\/a>, Hansen was asked about his thoughts on the possibility of loosening the selection policy, and he provided a holistic reply.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really hard question because right now we\u2019re not being successful. So, it would be easy to say: \u2018Let\u2019s pick them from everywhere\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, personally, I believe the reason not to pick from anywhere and everywhere are our competitions. We need strong competitions in this country to keep people engaged in rugby, to keep growing, learning, and understanding how we want to play the game as New Zealanders.\u201d<\/p>\n He further explained that selecting players based abroad can make it difficult to align the squad: \u201cIf you start picking from all over the world, and you can pick a young fella who has been playing the English way, which I\u2019m not saying is a bad thing, but you\u2019ve got to bring him back and mould them into a group in how we want to play, what\u2019s our DNA?<\/p>\n \u201cHaving strong competitions that creates a DNA on how we want to play. We have to have a pathway for our own coaches as well. So strong competitions for them and not just coaches but physios, doctors, nutritionists, everything. So for me, I\u2019ve always been out of it, saying \u2018No, no, no, no.\u2019 But I would probably leak a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Sir Steve Hansen urges Dave Rennie to pinch \u2018one or two things\u2019 from Springboks but All Blacks shouldn\u2019t \u2018copy\u2019 Rassie Erasmus<\/a><\/p>\n The Brodie Retallick exception and the impact on local locks<\/p>\n While many question the quality of the Japan Rugby League One competition, Hansen believes it is of a high standard because of the players, coaches and staff involved which leads him to the idea of giving some leeway.<\/p>\n But he also discussed what impact that could have on the younger players in New Zealand.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at Japan, having been up here. It\u2019s a really, really strong competition. Some great coaching up here. You go through all the names of the people who are coaching teams that have good support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you might turn around and say, \u2018Well Brodie Retallick is playing out of his skin, let\u2019s pick him.\u2019 He has played over 100 Test matches, created some form of rule or expectation, and you might look at him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if you start doing that, then you ask yourself, what about the [Josh] Lords and the [Sam] Darrys and those boys that have developed and become really good All Blacks and really good rugby players. Do we stop that development? By bringing these people back, it\u2019s a conundrum that doesn\u2019t have an easy answer, and you\u2019re going to win and lose both ways.<\/p>\n