OPINION
What would an All Blacks team look like if we didn’t select any players with an alleged history of violence towards women? I couldn’t tell you as I can’t remember a squad without at least one athlete with a dubious past. No convictions, though – we make sure of that. Second chances come freely if you’re a man who can run and tackle well.
Judges around the motu moonlight as All Blacks selectors. The future is deemed more relevant than the past that has led these players to their courtrooms. At the moment of reckoning, the right to pull on a black jersey is deemed sacrosanct. New Zealand Rugby is trusted to be the most effective rehabilitation programme for these men. What our wider society could gain from the lives changed in rugby’s changing rooms is limited because the sport would rather not talk about it.
The All Blacks will tell us that they have a “No Dickhead Policy” while they continue to select them. With this persistent number of troubled men in our national team, it should be expected that we have All Blacks alumni who continue to enact violence. They weren’t held accountable for their actions on their pathway into one of our society’s most revered roles. So it stands to reason that they have not yet learnt about consequences to actions.
The tales of their disgrace are run alongside a list of their achievements. The same achievements that the lack of earlier intervention gave them access to. So on his worst day, we will still hear all about the best things he’s ever done and skim over the worst thing that ever happened to her. He may be smiling from your child’s bedroom wall while she becomes another statistic.