Former stars hit out at rest policy
Former All Blacks Wyatt Crockett and Sir John Kirwan have challenged NZ Rugby to tear up the controversial ‘load management’ policy that continues to polarise Super Rugby fans.
While new NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson told Sky Sport he’s satisfied the programme that forces Super Rugby coaches to limit their All Blacks’ minutes in the opening rounds, and also rest them for two weeks during the regular season, there are fears this rule will continue to alienate fans who believe the competition is being devalued by the absence of its stars.
Crockett, who played 71 tests between 2009 and 2017, issued a plea to NZ Rugby to consider the supporters and have some empathy for coaches when asked for his views on the policy during a discussion on Sky’s The Breakdown panel this week.
He urged NZ Rugby to consider tailoring programmes for individual players.
‘‘We all understand the players need to be looked after but having this one size fits all blanket rule, I don’t think that’s the best answer,’’ Crockett said on The Breakdown.
‘‘I know Mark’s [Robinson] mentioned they have got a really good solution.
‘‘I think that they can do better. Because at the moment I think it disrespects the start of the Super Rugby competition. It’s not ideal.’’
Rarely do former players, or coaches, criticise NZ Rugby but Crockett appeared frustrated by NZ Rugby’s dogmatic approach in terms of telling Super Rugby clubs that its one-rule-fits-all policy was the right one.
Kirwan, who played 63 tests between 1984 and 1994, and also coached the Blues for several seasons reinforced the need for NZ Rugby to find a better way to manage the players and to prove to fans they value the Super Rugby tournament.
He said the process needed to be looked at from an ‘‘individual point of view’’.
‘‘The fans don’t like it and while Mark’s standing there and saying ‘the fans don’t like it, but our premium brand the All Blacks is successful,’’ Kirwan said.
‘‘I get that. However, if the fans stop turning up and don’t engage with their Super sides then they [NZ Rugby] are just going to have to keep pouring money into this competition.’’
Robinson, who has replaced former long-serving CEO Steve Tew, told Rugby Nation he could understand the fans wanted to have the ‘‘best possible players playing as much rugby as possible, for as long as possible’’.
‘‘But the reality of that situation is that we can’t manage that, and manage the welfare of our players,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘So we would like to think the fans still saw a huge amount of representation from our Rugby World Cup All Blacks last weekend.
‘‘I think we had 16 on deck playing, that would have been 19 if the Highlanders had been playing.’’
Robinson added that he believed the return to play protocols that had been in place for up to 10 years had ‘‘served us very well’’.
He said it was unrealistic to expect All Blacks to be available from ‘‘January to the end of November’’.
But the early start to Super Rugby, combined with several leading All Blacks being overseas and the obligation to manage the minutes of test representatives in the early games, has resulted in the competition suffering negative feedback from fans and commentators.
Kirwan also said the purpose of Super Rugby should be to be a premium competition involving the best players in action.