Rugby: $10 million before he's 30? New Zealand Rugby's uphill fight to keep stars

Charles Piutau of Ulster during the Guinness PRO12 rugby match between Munster Rugby and Ulster Rugby. Photo / Getty Images.

In case New Zealand Rugby hadn't worked it out already, they have been given another clear warning about how vulnerable young, emerging players from a Pacific Island background are to offshore offers.

It is becoming the hidden story of the professional game here that relative poverty and financial hardship is shaping the career decisions of some of the most promising rugby talent.

The landscape is increasingly defined by players who have the luxury of choice to chase their All Blacks dreams and those who feel obliged to acknowledge the sacrifice others made for them to make it.

It may not be easy for a middle-aged, middle-class predominantly Kiwi-European rugby administration to understand - but scattered across the professional landscape are players who grew up barely above the breadline, experiencing some of the societal shame that finds a way to attach itself to those who don't have much.

For those players who have known what it's like to see parents struggle to put food on the table, to miss out on school trips or have the hand-me-down shoes that are barely holding together, the career goal is often not about winning test caps, but of landing a major contract to alleviate financial stress for the next generation of their family.

In 2014 NZR gave every indication if was on top of this issue, aware of its existence and made it a strategic priority to protect players of Pacific Island origin. "They [Pacific Island-qualified New Zealanders] probably are [more vulnerable to offshore offers]," said chief executive Steve Tew.

"Clearly that is a significant opportunity for Pacific Island players. That is why we have identified the need to do a piece of work because it is not straight- forward. We will have to have the help of those communities themselves, whose knowledge and understanding is probably best."

The reality needs to be dawning on NZR that their policy is not working and that they are in serious danger of losing more star players to foreign predators if they rely purely on the lure of the All Blacks jersey to keep them here.

It's a stark equation but one that seems to hold enough truth to not be easily dismissed - but those who grow up knowing only life with money and the opportunities that brings see the number of test jerseys in their collection as the means to define the success of their career. Those who grow up knowing the pangs of hunger tend to see the accumulation of wealth as success.

And what should have hammered that message home is that Charles Piutau, who famously turned his back on the All Blacks in 2015 to sign a $1 million deal with Ulster, will next year become the best paid player in the world when he joins Bristol on a contract said to be worth $1.8 million a year.

Piutau shocked NZR six months out from the World Cup when he rejected a two-year contract extension, and at just 23 decided to give up an international career that everyone could see would be potentially long and significant given his obvious ability as an outside back.

NZR criticised his decision, but less well known was that Piutau is one of 10 children and happened to be living in the garage of the family home. The same garage he had shared with four of his brothers.

As much as his heart wanted to stay in New Zealand and put himself first, his head knew how much he'd be able to provide if he was earning $1 million a year.

What he's potentially proven is that test experience is not necessarily the key driver of a player's potential value to European clubs and those New Zealanders who head offshore at a young age, can reap the most stunning rewards.

When he gets to Bristol he'll hook up with his former Blues and All Blacks teammate, Steven Luatua, who also opted to sacrifice his test ambitions to be a better provider.

He was a certainty to be recalled to the test squad this year after consistently being the player he'd been asked to be.

But he's reportedly earning $1.2 million a year and as the youngest of five children, he told the New Zealand Herald earlier this year why he had made his decision to give up on his All Blacks dream at just 25.

"I can secure the future for my family," he said. "That's a big pull, to give back. My family don't expect much. They know I do what I do and that I give back when I can, but in this way I can actually make a difference.

"It was my siblings as well, they got the short stick here and there. I grew up with my mum and dad not favouring me, but ... ' here, let's take Steven to this and that'. Now that I'm older I can see that and they've been a big part of that."

Also heading to Europe at 25 is Malakai Fekitoa, who will join French giants Toulon in October. Fekitoa is one of 15 children and is thought to have been offered about $600,000 more to play in France than to stay in New Zealand.

His father died many years ago and Fekitoa has spoken before at the responsibility he feels to provide for his mother and family, sending money home every month.

The danger longer term is that in time, it could be that more New Zealand players, regardless of their background, start to see the accumulation of wealth as the definition of career success.

It's easy to see that happening with Piutau, if he can avoid injury, potentially on track to enjoy career earnings in excess of $10 million before he turns 30.

That's a staggering statistic and one that will strike a chord with many Auckland teenagers currently coming through First XV rugby, their eyes fixed on the prize of making the professional ranks.

It is also, of more concern to NZR, the sort of number that may strike a chord with the likes of the supremely talented Ioane boys, Akira and Rieko, who could both play for the All Blacks at the next World Cup, establish themselves as global superstars, and still only be, respectively, 24 and 22.