Scott Robertson believes that the All Blacks could be left behind if New Zealand Rugby do not make changes to their overseas policy.
The Kiwis ended their northern hemisphere tour with a 29-11 victory over Italy on Saturday as they went four from five in October and November.
In total, they have won 10 out of 14 games during the head coach’s first year in charge, which is not a bad return considering the rebuild that needed to be undertaken.
They lost several greats of the game after the Rugby World Cup, who took up contracts overseas.
Some may have retired from Test rugby anyway but others, such as Richie Mo’unga and Shannon Frizell, remain in the thoughts of the All Blacks selectors.
Current laws
However, under the current laws laid out by NZR, Robertson is not able to pick players that are plying their trade outside of the country.
The head coach will now meet up with the governing body and make his recommendation to the board.
“We don’t want to be a cycle behind or a couple of years behind,” he told reporters. “Professional rugby is always evolving. Let’s keep an open mind and see what’s next. I’ll definitely be presenting.”
Robertson repeated his words from earlier in the year where he urged New Zealand Rugby to keep an “open mind”, but the All Blacks boss now wants them to make changes.
He pointed at the Springboks’ success as to what can be achieved with a more relaxed overseas policy.
“Using South Africa as an example, they get the opportunity to use a lot of experienced players who are looked after and managed well into their 30s so they’ve got a great balance,” he said.
“And they’ve got big squads, they can have two really quality fifteens.”
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South Africa have no restrictions and will pick players wherever they are based in the world. Robertson isn’t necessarily advocating that, understanding the need to keep Super Rugby strong, but the head coach would like to be able to pick certain individuals outside of New Zealand.
Those that have ‘shown loyalty’
He added: “What’s right for all of our game? How do we create it so we still get the best players, we’ve still got the best competitions and we’ve still got the best All Black group?
“You might look at the guys that have shown a lot of loyalty to us, so there’s an avenue for them.”
Despite the restrictions that Robertson has to work with, New Zealand have developed nicely over the course of the year.
They endured a disappointing Rugby Championship, losing three of their six encounters, but enjoyed a positive year-end tour, irrespective of the narrow loss to France which blotted the copybook.
“We had a chance to win all of those. You learn about game management, your roles and how you set a team up to win a Test match,” he said.
“We’ve played some incredible halves, 45, 50, 60 minutes. We just haven’t always finished.”
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