Former New Zealand Rugby CEO David Moffett fears for the game’s future after yet another promising Kiwi talent signed overseas.
Blues loose forward Tom Robinson is the latest star to ink a deal overseas, joining Japanese club Toyota Verblitz at the end of 2023 thanks to a strong recruitment drive by ex-All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen.
Robinson will join All Blacks veterans Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett at the club while fellow internationals Brodie Retallick, Shannon Frizell, Pita Gus Sowakula and Ardie Savea have also confirmed a move overseas in 2024.
With the player exodus following this year’s Rugby World Cup continuing to grow, Moffett says this mass movement will have implications far beyond just the national side.
“It’s not good because it affects every tier of New Zealand rugby, from clubs all the way up,” Moffett told SENZ Afternoons.
“We have a look now, for example, the All Blacks never play NPC and that’s degraded the NPC.
“They never play, well they play obviously in Super Rugby but a lot of them, they start late in Super Rugby.
“That’s my biggest concern is that the more the players go, it’s not so much the All Blacks, but it’s those players playing Super Rugby, and the more of those players that go, the more it’s going to affect Super Rugby.
“I don’t think we have a conveyor belt any longer, to the extent that we used to in the past because of a variety of reasons, but it is a concern.
“When we started Super Rugby back in 1995-96 and I was there at the very beginning of all of that, we actually used to have conversations about how could we not affect club rugby as much with Super Rugby.
“Of course, that changed and they went to 18 teams, they went to playing over an extended period of time so club rugby completely got washed away by Super Rugby.
“That has pretty much happened with the NPC. The NPC for example in Australia … they’re very envious of it, because what it does is brings the players up through another level.
“If all of these players are going to be going, that is the area (that will suffer).”
While Moffett fears for the state of the NPC following the player exodus, he is equally concerned about New Zealand’s dwindling coaching pool.
“There is one other thing too that I’d like to mention and that is the drain of coaches,” he added.
“The number of coaches coaching overseas who could actually be in the All Black coaching frame in future years is massive.
“You can’t lose all those good coaches.
“Razor’s (Scott Robertson) just been appointed and I’ve always thought that was a good idea to appoint him but outside of that … Jamie Joseph was the only other applicant.
“All the others are overseas or they didn’t want to coach, for whatever reason, the All Blacks, so the question is, if Razor and Jamie Joseph weren’t in the frame, where are the other coaches coming through in New Zealand?
“They’re all overseas, a lot of these good young coaches and they’re going over there because they don’t really see (a future in NZ).
“They can get a lot of money over there, just the same as the players. I’m sure that players are going to Japan for the money and it’s a great experience, but the money that they’re offering will be a great attraction.”
Listen to the full chat with Moffett below: