Sir Steve Hansen’s ‘no carte blanche’ verdict on selecting overseas All Blacks with Brodie Retallick exception despite ‘conundrum’
Brodie Retallick and an inset of ex-All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen.
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.
New Zealand’s most successful head coach says that he will leave the final decision to ‘wiser men’ 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.
It’s 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.
Australia’s policy is less clear-cut at the moment, but the introduction of the ‘Giteau Law’ 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.
Outside of New Zealand, Ireland and England remain the two other Tier One nations that don’t permit their coaching teams to select players abroad.
Sir Graham Henry’s suggestion on selecting overseas-based players
Hansen’s predecessor, Sir Graham Henry, commented on the prospect of loosening the selection policy, saying that he would ‘allow All Blacks to play overseas’ but would add a reasonably flexible criterion, ‘maybe 20 Tests’.
“You’re bringing back ideas from overseas. What it does for players is it not only develops them as rugby players but develops them as people – they’re more worldly, they’re more confident. Look at South Africa,” the World Cup-winning coach said on the DSPN podcast with Martin Devlin.
The debate raged on for much of Scott Robertson’s tenure as head coach of the All Blacks after he pressed for change in order to select fly-half Richie Mo’unga, who signed a three-year deal with Japanese club Toshiba Brave Lupus after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
He was joined by Shannon Frizell in leaving New Zealand shores, as well as veteran lock Brodie Retallick. The latter’s 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.
Steve Hansen softens hardline approach
Appearing on the DSPN podcast, Hansen was asked about his thoughts on the possibility of loosening the selection policy, and he provided a holistic reply.
“It’s a really hard question because right now we’re not being successful. So, it would be easy to say: ‘Let’s pick them from everywhere’,” he said.
“However, 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.”
He further explained that selecting players based abroad can make it difficult to align the squad: “If you start picking from all over the world, and you can pick a young fella who has been playing the English way, which I’m not saying is a bad thing, but you’ve got to bring him back and mould them into a group in how we want to play, what’s our DNA?
“Having 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’ve always been out of it, saying ‘No, no, no, no.’ But I would probably leak a little bit.”
The Brodie Retallick exception and the impact on local locks
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.
But he also discussed what impact that could have on the younger players in New Zealand.
“I look at Japan, having been up here. It’s 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,” he said.
“So you might turn around and say, ‘Well Brodie Retallick is playing out of his skin, let’s pick him.’ He has played over 100 Test matches, created some form of rule or expectation, and you might look at him.
“But 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’s a conundrum that doesn’t have an easy answer, and you’re going to win and lose both ways.
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“There are wiser men than I who will make that decision. So, I just stay out of it. But I think a carte blanche, I am no; one or two maybe.”
Despite the exodus of New Zealand players to overseas clubs, Hansen is still confident that there is enough local talent in the country.
“Yeah, more than confident,” he replied when asked he still has confidence in the talent in New Zealand.
“I know we have the talent. You’ve just got to see some of the players that are out there.”
READ MORE: All Blacks great demands NZ Rugby back down on key policy in the wake of Shannon Frizell deal
