ABs won’t play at Tens
Brisbane tournament takes big hit as NZ Rugby refuses to allow Super franchises to release top stars
No current All Blacks will be released to play in the Brisbane Global Tens, dealing a crippling blow to the tournament. The event on February 11-12 is the brainchild of Duco Events, who hope to replicate the success of the NRL Auckland Nines.
In its marketing material, Duco promises the tournament “will see the star players of all 10 Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby clubs”.
New Zealand Rugby, however, look to have put a large spanner in the works.
The Herald understands the national body has instructed the franchises that All Blacks cannot be made available for the two-day tournament as it will be in breach of the players collective agreement. The agreement stipulates players must be given a 12-week stand-down from rugby, automatically ruling out the 36-strong squad from the end-ofyear tour.
NZR head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said provisions for when All Blacks can return to play are set out in the collective employment agreement. This is usually done in consultation with All Blacks management and the high performance team.
Curiously, a number of All Blacks have been used to promote the event, including Israel Dagg, Jerome Kaino and Damian McKenzie. As all were on last year’s European tour, it appears none will be lacing up at Suncorp Stadium.
Rachael Carroll, the director of Duco’s Australian operations, said she was awaiting the submission of the squads from the New Zealand franchises, but was confident there would still be big names to pull in the crowds.
“We’ve always been well aware that this is a negotiation with NZ Rugby in regards to the player provisions, particularly those that fall under last year’s tour. But that relates to people that were on the tour and playing last year. There are a number of All Blacks that are returning to play that weren’t on that tour,” said Carroll.
“It’s a three-way discussion between us, the players and NZ Rugby and they are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
‘‘We don’t have the confirmed squads, because that process is still being worked through.”
Players not considered for selection for the 2016 northern hemisphere tour due to injury were hookers Nathan Harris and James Parsons, midfielders Sonny Bill Williams and Charlie Ngatai and outside
back Nehe Milner-Skudder. Williams is still some way off returning after a partial tear of his Achilles at the Rio Olympics. The other four players played just 15 tests between them over the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Despite this, Carroll maintains it will be a “global tournament of stars”. “We’ve got 14 teams in this tournament . . . you start to get a couple of superstars out of each of those clubs, bolt that all together, you’re dealing with 30-plus of the highest profile players from around the world. That’s an exceptional tournament.” The Tens has been promoted as a way of reviving the flagging fortunes of rugby in Australia and Queensland in particular. The absence of the biggest drawcards in the sport will not help. It will also be a blow to New Zealand rights holders’ Sky Sport, which has heavily invested in the tournament.