The exodus of the Kiwis: A curse of their depth?

The plethora of players within New Zealand rugby has been well documented in recent years. It is a source of pride among many Kiwis.

The abundance of riches the All Blacks have at their disposal, due mainly to the five Kiwi franchises in Super Rugby, plus the talent on display in the ITM Cup is no doubt the envy of many countries who would crave such a large stock of players.

However, in recent years, having such an abundance of players plying their trade in Super Rugby or ITM Cup, has turned into a little bit of a curse.

Such is the large amount of reserves within New Zealand, the chance of actually breaking into the All Blacks squad is quite hard.

Therefore, many Kiwis have decided to take another avenue – leave New Zealand to pursue regular playing time elsewhere in the hope they can play for another country either via the three-year residency rule, through dual nationality or the ancestral route.

In the last few years this has become more prominent among players in New Zealand.

Jared Payne, Michael Paterson, Rodney Ah You and Sean Maitland have made the jump from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. Ex-Auckland Blues and utility back Jared Payne, now plying his trade for Irish province Ulster, is on the cusp of reaching the Ireland squad after soon to be retired legend Brian O’Driscoll touted him to be his possible successor.

Ex-Highlanders forward Paterson, who now plays for Cardiff Blues, could play for Wales after completing the three-year residency rule last season.

Meanwhile, prop Rodney Ah You was selected to be in Ireland’s preliminary Six Nations squad, but though he didn’t make the final cut his performances for Irish side Connacht was noted by Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt. Sean Maitland made his debut for Scotland in the 2013 Six Nations after moving from the Crusaders to play for Glasgow and on debut for Scotland scored a try against England.

These four players, despite playing for New Zealand at youth level, decided to chance their arm overseas and are doing relatively well in the northern hemisphere. From that other New Zealanders are following their lead.

Recently Chiefs centre Bundee Aki announced he was moving to Ireland to play for Connacht in his bid to play for Ireland within three years though he is eligible to play for Samoa.

Moreover, Melbourne Rebels fullback Jason Woodward has not hidden the possibility of playing for the Wallabies once the 23-year-old is eligible via the residency rule in less than two years.

In recent days, rumours have circulated that Gareth Anscombe has been targeted by the Cardiff Blues and Wales’ head coach Warren Gatland, seeing that Anscombe does have Welsh ancestry.

There are a lot of other examples where players have changed their availability to other sides. England has Pacific Islander born players such as Manu Tuliagi, Billy and Mako Vunipola, while the Welsh have Tongan-born Taulupe Faletau.

Scotland have players born in the USA and Holland, while France has used Top 14 giants Clermont Auvergne’s links with Fijian club Nadroga to have Fijian players in their national squad such as Noa Nakaitaci.

Moreover, Les Bleus have a South Africa-born flanker in Bernard Le Roux. In addition, rumours abate that Castres star scrumhalf Rory Kockott, who moved to France from South Africa in 2011, could be selected for the summer tour to Australia in June once eligible to play for France via residency.

However, the increasing level of player exodus from New Zealand has certainly elicited a response from New Zealand coach Steve Hansen, who is not pleased about it.

“The disappointing thing is that people have a dream to play for the All Blacks, but rather than stick at it, and have a real go at achieving that, they take the easier option when it is presented,” he said.

His musings are understandable. Several players in the New Zealand have grafted hard to be in the squad and have paid off. Examples include Charles Piutau and Steven Luatua, whose efforts for Auckland in the ITM Cup for and productive performances last season for the Blues in Super Rugby earned them call-ups to the All Blacks.

But Hansen’s displeasure lies within the possible situation New Zealand could face post 2015. It is likely after the Rugby World Cup there will be several retirees in important positions, such as Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.

It could be that those players will be up to scratch and perform well, but they certainly face the problem of advancing years.

Either way, the All Blacks and anyone within the New Zealand Rugby Union would be much happier to have the problem of depth than otherwise.