Lessons from school system
In the third of a three-part series, Paul Cully talks to Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge and Bay of Plenty chief executive Mike Rogers about the role of First XV rugby in the professional pathway.
There are few more polarising subjects in rugby than First XV rugby. Everyone has an opinion on the subject - usually a strong one - but the sentiment in recent years has certainly been on the negative end of the scale.
Yet, in Ireland, the near-professional programmes in elite rugby schools are accepted as a key part of Ireland’s test success.
Crusaders chief executive Colin Mansbridge has watched the debate about First XV programmes unfold in Aotearoa, and strongly believes New Zealanders should welcome them - warning that the Australian NRL clubs are far less squeamish about the subject.
“I think we should embrace it,” Mansbridge said.
“Look at other codes. I’ve spoken to parents of 14-year-old boys who are being targeted by NRL scouts to relocate to Australia and go to rugby union schools in Australia with an eye to play league.
“I think to myself, ‘Why would they not just play rugby union in a school just as good here?’ "I think it's a competitive advantage [for New Zealand] to have this amazing school system.“
Changing times
It’s not uncommon for players to go from First XV rugby to Super Rugby in about three years, and the Highlanders have a batch of young players who were playing for Otago Boys’ or Southland Boys’ as recently as 2020 or 2021.
Mansbridge says times have changed, and New Zealand rugby has to change as well.
“I've got a lot of friends who are my age and older, and hark back to the days of old when the way you got selected for the All Blacks was you played for your school, then you went back to your club, you got selected to play for Town or Country, then you got selected to play for Canterbury, or whoever it is. "Then you got selected to play for the All Blacks, or maybe a South Island XV, and then the All Blacks.
“Let's say there's 20 in New Zealand, there's nine in Ireland, and there's about 15 in England.
“So you consolidate on a school, you go through a school high-performance system and then fairly quickly after that, you get identified by a professional high-performance system. “Asking a whole heap of Heartland and a whole heap of NPC unions to, to apply the historic perspective to that development is not right.“
New Zealand remains wedded to the more romantic idea of a player paying his dues in club rugby and the NPC, and learning from the school of hard knocks before making it to the big time.
The real debate, therefore, is whether the NPC provinces or the Super Rugby franchises should ultimately be in control of talent ID and player development, with the current system split between the two.
‘Unintended consequences’
Bay of Plenty chief executive Mike Rogers believes the rise of First XV has not diminished the role played by the provincial unions - in fact quite the opposite.
“It has complicated the model even more,” Rogers said. “But rather than reduce the role it has in our opinion made the role of the provincial game even more important.
“As Super Rugby clubs chase young talent we see that young players are missing the important development phase that provincial rugby provides.
“We are an advocate of being patient with our young talent and ensuring we do a better job of preparing them on and off the field for playing in competitions like Super Rugby.
“Having players come from school into provincial environments for one-two years before starting in Super Rugby would provide the time to educate them about the challenges of being a professional and at the same time give them more of a life experience by connecting to clubs and communities.”