Rugby: IRB explores transfer plan

Toulouse-bound Luke McAlister. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The IRB will soon begin work on the feasibility of a global transfer market. Major unions have agreed to support a system where money changes hands whenever players cross international boundaries to ply their trade.

Such a system would inevitably be challenged by major European clubs who currently pay nothing other than salaries to acquire players from anywhere in the world.

The research will determine whether national unions could effectively be compensated whenever they lose a player to an offshore market. The justification would be that the national union has invested heavily in the development of its players and deserves financial recognition.

The decision to research the feasibility was made at the recent IRB economic conference where six key priorities were agreed.

The other five include: a full review of the IRB's financial distribution model; a full review of the World Cup financial model; a review of how to maximise test match revenue; agree an investment programme in emerging markets; and a strategic plan to maximise the opportunities around Sevens' inclusion in the Olympics.

It's the player movement issue that sits close to the top of the New Zealand agenda. At the conference New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew presented a chilling take on the situation here. More than 180 former New Zealand Super Rugby players are currently playing professionally overseas.

While the numbers of Australians and South Africans playing offshore won't be so high, they are still significant with all of the big unions now concerned about the numbers of international players in some domestic competitions.

The French and English leagues are of the greatest concern with the former in particular unable to stop or even slow the leading clubs' appetites for foreign players.

"We all agreed at the forum that we need to see what can be done to ensure what we [national unions] can do to have moderate influence on the player market," says Tew. "There was agreement that we all want international rugby to be the pinnacle of the sport and not let rugby become like football where that is not the case. So we have a commitment to do some work in that area."

Tew says that there is a realisation in France and England as well as other countries that importing players into domestic leagues can cause significant issues. The quality of international teams has been affected.

In France on occasion the Top 14 teams can play a full round of games with only one French-qualified prop starting.

In England, there have been occasions when the top six clubs have not been able to boast an English-qualified first five between them.

"There was a sense that the issue is becoming more serious and that some countries are beginning to realise the effect wide-scale imports can have on key positions in their national teams," says Tew.

The challenge for the IRB is building any system that does not contravene draconian European laws. Legislation around transfer markets has been famously difficult to impose. Football has been unable to construct effective barriers.

Tew, like most of his compatriots, is realistic enough to know that the chances of anything ever being put in place are slim but in some ways that is of little concern. For now, gaining agreement and acceptance that there is a problem is progress.

Ultimately the problem of heavy player movement out of New Zealand will not be solved by imposing trade barriers. The key is encouraging the national unions to improve and advance their own domestic development of players so major clubs don't feel the need to recruit so many foreigners.

England and France, for all their power and influence, have never really developed quality nurturing systems and have never managed to keep the conveyer belt of talent running like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

As a consequence, many of the leading clubs say they have been forced to look offshore to find better players. If French clubs could recruit locals at half the price of former All Blacks, they would.

The IRB working party is expected to start reporting back some time later next year.