All Blacks: Wayne Pivac gives blunt verdict on New Zealand Rugby’s selection policy

Former Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has given his support to New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) policy of not selecting overseas-based players to represent the All Blacks at international level.

There has been lots of debate about the NZR’s eligibility rules as it currently prevents New Zealanders, who are plying their trade abroad from representing the All Blacks unless they are granted a sabbatical by the governing body.

Former All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson initially urged NZR’s policymakers to keep an open mind on their eligibility rules but the governing body revealed that they would not be changing their policy regarding the selection of overseas-based players for the All Blacks anytime soon.

Although he was recently relieved of his duties as All Blacks head coach, Robertson had a change of heart on player eligibility in 2025 and was supporting NZR’s policy of not selecting overseas-based players.

New Zealander Pivac was Wales’ head coach from 2020 to 2022 but also coached Fiji from 2004 to 2007 and has close to 30 years’ experience of coaching at club and provincial levels in New Zealand, Wales and Japan.

Wales using a 25-cap rule

The Welsh Rugby Union currently have a 25-cap rule which states that players based outside Wales must have earned at least 25 international caps to be eligible for selection for the Welsh national team, a rule lowered from 60 caps in 2023 to help retain talent.

Rugby Australia had a similar rule, the Giteau Law – named after former Wallabies centre after Matt Giteau – which allowed overseas-based players to represent the Wallabies if they met specific criteria, primarily 60 Test caps or significant Super Rugby service.

However, Rugby Australia scrapped that rule in 2025 and followed the example of SA Rugby who allow all overseas-based players to represent the Springboks at international level.

NZR have allowed senior players to take sabbaticals for several years now with the likes of All Blacks stars Rieko Ioane and Ardie Savea currently enjoying brief stints at Irish province Leinster and Japanese club Kobe Steelers before returning to New Zealand later this year.

All Blacks: Wayne Pivac reveals the ‘red flags’ he saw ahead of Scott Robertson’s axing

Pivac believes NZR are doing the right thing by offering their players sabbaticals instead of changing their selection policy to allow overseas-based players to represent the All Blacks.

“Look, these sabbaticals are being taken now for quite a number of years,” he told the DSPN with Martin Devlin. “The likes of Ali Williams and there’s been other players, plenty of players have been, Richie McCaw back in the day, Dan Carter, have been released to do what they need to do overseas, make a bit of extra money, whatever it might be. But because of their service, they’ve been allowed to do that.

‘There’s a lot more money in Japan and in France’

“And I think that’s fine. But the problem in New Zealand is what the players get paid is that if you open it up for them to go overseas, there won’t be many left here because there is, the facts are, there’s a lot more money in Japan and in France and other parts of the world. So, it’s quite lucrative.

“It’s quite exciting for young players to be able to go and make what they can make in five years here and potentially one or two years overseas.

“So, there’s plenty of pools to go overseas if they open it up. So, I would hate to see them open up completely because I think that would be disastrous for the local rugby scene.

“But certainly, those sabbaticals seem to have worked in the past and those guys have had the right to do that. So, it’s an interesting one, but each country’s got to look at it on its merits, really. And it’s something that, no doubt, gets asked a lot.

“And you’ve just got to look at where the teams are at the time and where the game’s at.”

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