Euro, Japanese clubs come for young stars

Wielding their cheque books, clubs in the northern hemisphere have plundered Super Rugby in recent years.

The lucrative deals have offered players the opportunity to provide for their families towards the back end of their careers, while for some Kiwis it provides a more fruitful situation if an All Blacks jersey seems out of reach.

But times are changing, and now the European powerhouses are coming for Super Rugby’s young stars.

Already the Blues have lost 25-year-old fullback Melani Nanai to Worcester, while the Crusaders have lost Jordan Taufua to Leicester a year after the 27-year-old had cracked into the All Blacks set up.

In South Africa, the Bulls will be saying goodbye to superstar No 10 and Super Rugby’s leading scorer Handre Pollard as the 25-year-old has committed to joining Montpellier, while the Sharks will see the du Preez brothers Robert, Jean-Luc and Dan, all

of which are 25 or younger, leave to join Sale.

It’s not just the European clubs coming in search of players, though. Japan have also come to the party and lured players away, including All Blacks lock Jackson Hemopo.

Already 41 Super Rugby players have agreed to leave the competition behind them for deals in Europe or Japan after the 2019 season with only the Chiefs and Sunwolves yet to lose players to deals abroad.

Fan interest in Super Rugby is already declining due to the Crusaders and Hurricanes’ continued domination of the competition and the structure of the points table — in which the top teams in each conference take out the top three spots regardless of their points totals.

Should more of the competition’s biggest draw cards be lost to the north, Sanzaar might struggle to continue promoting Super Rugby as a competition as much as a practice ground for All Blacks.

And even then, losing quality young players from the Australian and South African conferences does New Zealand Rugby no favours as the level of competition decreases as more players leave for more money and the overseas experience.

New Zealand players with All Blacks aspirations will remain on Kiwi shores as long as it’s a requirement to reach the international stage, and the Kiwi derbies will always be tough, physical encounters.

But should the other conferences be fleeced of their top talents, there could come a time where Super Rugby is not the right environment to continue to growth of top Kiwi players.