Rugby: Is this 'sayonara' to Kaino?

Jerome Kaino was one of the heroes of New Zealand's Rugby World Cup campaign last year. Picture / Greg Bowker

World Cup hero Jerome Kaino is set to make an announcement on his future today, with the smart money on him swapping dollars for yen.

The blindside flanker, who faces six months out of the game after shoulder surgery, has been wrestling between a huge multi-year offer from at least one Japanese club, understood to be Toyota, and loyalty to the Blues and All Blacks.

Those familiar with Kaino's thinking said he had flip-floppedover the call several times as the reality of leaving New Zealand kicked in.

The fact that Kaino is making the announcement at the offices of his management company, Esportif International, rather than Eden Park, suggests he will announce his departure.

Kaino has emerged from a talented but inconsistent international into one of the All Blacks' great No 6s.

He played all but 90 seconds of last year's triumphant World Cup campaign, picking up the New Zealand Player of the Year award and finishing runner-up to Thierry Dusautoir as IRB player of the year.

The 28-year-old is one of the best-paid players in New Zealand, with only Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams thought to be on a higher retainer from the national body.

He would also have been eligible for - and offered - the sort of "sabbatical" deal taken up by Ma'a Nonu in Japan recently.

That he is considering a move while still in the prime of his career is an illustration of the spending power of Japanese and European clubs.

Kaino's agent Bruce Sharrock last week told the Herald that "in reality there's always going to be a gap between what is offered here and elsewhere, but it's a case of whether the gap is too large".

How much of a difference is too large? We will have the definitive answer on that today.