Exodus 2018
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Article from the Times UK
OWEN SLOT
march 6 2018, 12:01am, the times
Harlequins tie-up shows the All Blacks accept money trumps loyalty
owen slotRugby Writer of the Year
As Eddie Jones ponders this week such deep problems as who he is going to pick, or who is going to help fix his issues at the breakdown, or who will be fit, consider the rather different challenge faced by his opposite man in New Zealand. Steve Hansen’s problem is not so much whom to pick, but who is left to be selected.
That may sound like a somewhat contrived opening to a column trying to tweak your interest in today’s unlikely mission, which is to generate some sympathy for the world champions. However, in New Zealand they have sleepwalked rather too quickly into their present crisis, so we may as well wake up to it here too.
On Friday last week, this newspaper delivered the proof that the All Blacks had officially woken up. Our story was about Harlequins and an unprecedented agreement with New Zealand that “strategically linked” the two “both on the field and behind the scenes”.
A different story, in the Kiwi media on Sunday, was very much on the same subject: New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is to host a summit with leading stakeholders to deal with the growing threat of player drain. According to the Herald on Sunday, the options likely to be considered are tax breaks for players and, in what would be a huge policy retreat, selecting players who are at overseas clubs for the All Blacks.
The Kiwi crisis is player retention. If Lima Sopoaga, for instance, is being offered about four times his salary at home to join Wasps, then he is going to be hard to stop. If Bristol are offering Charles Piutau the opportunity to become the best-paid player in the world, then he is unlikely to gamble on earning, maybe at best, three times less by going home.
Piutau was the game-changer. Five months before the 2015 World Cup, he announced that he was to leave New Zealand the following year to join Ulster. NZR didn’t think he would go. It didn’t believe that a young man would forfeit his All Black future in this way. It responded by leaving him out of the World Cup squad. That was a warning to others. It didn’t work.
It failed so spectacularly that the argument over leaving New Zealand has now changed. Increasingly, players in their prime are leaving home to pursue once-in-a-lifetime salaries abroad. With Piutau, the debate was: how can you turn your back on a future with the All Blacks? Now it is: how can you turn your back on the kind of money that could change your — and your family’s — life. Once emotion and loyalty start to fade from the debate, the All Blacks start losing it.
The problem is that they haven’t got the finance to fight it. No, they haven’t yet had a first-choice All Black pack up and go, but that is largely because of the pay structure. The best All Blacks are paid well. With endorsements and add-ons, Beauden Barrett, for instance, will earn at best the equivalent of £750,000 a year. He could still earn more abroad but not double; not quite 50 per cent more.
Below the top players, though, there is a significant drop-off. Sopoaga, the reserve All Blacks No 10, would earn one third the amount that Barrett does, maybe less, at home. And more than him abroad. Not such a hard decision.
Of course, this is no different to the problems long faced by Australia and South Africa. It was just that the All Blacks seemed bulletproof and the loyalty defence has now been shot down. It is also a further, unequivocal demonstration of the direction of travel in the game. Rugby’s economics in the northern hemisphere are trumping those in the south. Clubs in England and France are destabilising the international game. You may love your club rugby, but do you love it that much?
Will the All Blacks’ strategic link with Harlequins now save the day? I have my hopes and my doubts.
The deal has already lurched into fast-forward. Nick Evans, the Harlequins attack coach, has already landed in Wellington for a fortnight’s learning experience with Wayne Smith and the Hurricanes. That is brilliant for Harlequins.
Yet will the All Blacks be able to control their player drain by using Harlequins as a home from home where their players can earn big for two years on the understanding that they will then return to New Zealand?
It is the market that now makes players’ decisions. If the All Blacks and Harlequins make some kind of a joint contract offer to a player and it is still being dwarfed by Toulon, for instance, then presumably Toulon still win.
You can view this through two eyes or one. The one-eyed can see All Black strength being gradually whittled away — and regard that as a cause for celebration. The broader view shows international rugby being increasingly undermined; that is what the All Blacks-Harlequins deal is about — changing direction.
For a vision of the All Blacks’ future, look at the past of the West Indies cricket team. And ask yourself if that is what you really want.
Harlequins tie-up shows the All Blacks accept money trumps loyalty
As Eddie Jones ponders this week such deep problems as who he is going to pick, or who is going to help fix his issues at the breakdown, or who will be fit, consider the rather different challenge faced by his opposite man in New Zealand. Steve Hansen’s problem is not so much whom to pick, but wh
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@infidel said in Exodus 2018:
For a vision of the All Blacks’ future, look at the past of the West Indies cricket team. And ask yourself if that is what you really want.
That's the bit that worries me. Add the fact Australia no longer gives a shit about rugby because they're terrible at SR and they only really care about beating Kiwis, and South Africa is going to hell in a hand basket - who is left to play against and generate revenue?
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@taniwharugby That would be after the RWC2019 at the earliest. I don't think anyone will be surprised if he goes after the RWC; he'll be 28 by then.
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Personally i think that would be a monumental waste of money for a French club, given the type of rugby typically played there. If he can get it though, fucking take it son.
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@mariner4life said in Exodus 2018:
Personally i think that would be a monumental waste of money for a French club, given the type of rugby typically played there. If he can get it though, fucking take it son.
If he can guide us to victory in Japan he's welcome to have at it!
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@mariner4life said in Exodus 2018:
Personally i think that would be a monumental waste of money for a French club, given the type of rugby typically played there. If he can get it though, fucking take it son.
Tell them to get fucked, Beauden.
Joe Karam took the money. Richie McCaw didn't.
It's a choice of the jersey or The Jersey!
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Damian McKenzie.
Not.
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Still no official confirmation, but it's in the media again. West is one thing, but I hate the idea of Buckman going as well.
Considering the Magpies will be playing without two of their senior backs from recent seasons, Highlander and 2017 back-of-the-year Richard Buckman and Maori All Blacks and Hurricanes first five-eighth Ihaia West, Magpies fans should be happy with a semifinal finish this season. Buckman will head to Japan and West to France after their respective Super Rugby campaigns.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503460&objectid=12014452
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According to French paper La Montagne, Jordan Manihera was close to being signed by Top 14 club Brive as injury cover for one of their injured players (Tasi Luafutu). Manihera had already arrived in France (end of February) and undergone medical tests. In the end, the French League International de Rugby didn't allow the signing because clubs are only allowed to sign players as injury cover if the injured player will be unavailable for at least 3 months, which wasn't the case for Luafutu.
The paper says Manihera has returned to NZ, but it cannot be excluded that he will join Brive next season.
Nothing official yet, but damn, IMO this is one of those players you don't want to see going overseas.
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Leroy Van Dam joins English club Jersey : https://www.jerseyreds.je/news/2017-18/four-more-signings-for-2018-19-campaign.aspx
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Michael Fatialofa has signed with Worcester Warriors.
HURRICANES WISH FATIALOFA WELL FOR FUTURE
Thu 29th Mar The Hurricanes would like to wish lock Michael Fatialofa all the best for his future beyond 2018 after he today confirmed he would be joining English Premiership club Worcester Warriors. Fatialofa, 25, has played a significant role for the Hurricanes since he joined the club in 2016, helping it win its first Investec Super Rugby title the same year. The 1.99m Fatialofa suffered a serious knee injury last season but has worked tremendously hard to return and be part of the 2018 campaign as he builds back to his best form. Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said Fatialofa would continue to play a leading role in the squad's progression through the season. "Michael has been an integral part of the squad during his time at the club, especially in 2016 when we won the title," he said. "His form that season played a big part in our title win and we know he would like to be part of another memorable season and have a big hand in it. In saying that, we will wish him all the best for his future at Worcester when the time comes." -
@stargazer Any idea on if he is leaving after Super Rugby or after NPC? Auckland are getting very low on locks.
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@kiwimurph said in Exodus 2018:
@stargazer Any idea on if he is leaving after Super Rugby or after NPC? Auckland are getting very low on locks.
According to Worcester Warriors' media release, Fatialofa will join them after the Mitre 10 Cup, so he'll play for Auckland.
https://warriors.co.uk/2018/03/28/warriors-sign-hurricanes-lock-fatialofa/
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Sucks to lose Fatialofa - a really valuable member of the team. Will be missed, especially with Shields going too.
