Overseas players to level up new NPC

Restrictive domestic transfer laws are forcing New Zealand's aspiring provinces to recruit from overseas in their efforts to be competitive in next year's expanded NPC competition.

Although the New Zealand Rugby Union says it is debating whether to draft new transfer rules to encourage a more even distribution of players next season, it is understood the status quo will be maintained.

That means unions will be restricted to making five domestic transfers a year. But having extended next year's competition to 14 teams, the likes of Manawatu, Counties-Manukau, Hawke's Bay and Tasman Bay are desperate to build stronger squads to avoid serious mismatches.

The NZRU is currently discussing the use of a salary cap in next year's NPC as part of the players' collective negotiations with the Professional Rugby Players Association. The NZRU hopes to establish a salary cap with the aim of forcing the bigger unions to shed some players.

But few unions are hopeful the cap will be set at a level to force the big unions to shed talent and with fees ranging from $5,000 to $125,000 to be paid on domestic transfers, many unions are trawling global markets for new players.

There are currently no restrictions on the number of overseas players a union can contract. The only requirement is that overseas players arrive in a province to play club rugby by May 1, 2006.

Haydn Smith, chief executive of Manawatu, said: "We have had every indication that the transfer rules will stay as they are, and that is what we are working towards. But we are targeting overseas players, mainly New Zealanders who are offshore and some Australians.

"We are not the only union trawling, though, and it is hard to find players who have not already been approached by other New Zealand unions."

The NZRU confirmed that transfer rules are being discussed but was unable to comment further as it has agreed to a code of silence with the NZRPA during the collective bargaining process.

There is some logic to increasing the number of domestic players a union can transfer each year. If an effective salary cap is put in place to ensure a greater volume of players on the transfer market every season, the competing unions don't want to be restricted in how many they can pick up.

At the end of last year's campaign the big five unions shed a combined total of 21 players - Auckland (10), Canterbury (5), Otago (3), Wellington (2) and Waikato (1).

Manawatu and Poverty Bay each bought three players from the big five, with a host of other unions picking up the remainder.

It is unlikely the rules restricting the number of All Blacks and Super 12 players who can be bought in a year will be redrawn. The existing rules say that a province can only hire one current All Black a season and no more than a total of three former or established All Blacks or current Super 12 players.

A current All Black is considered any player selected for test duty in the last 12 months, while a former All Black is any player who has been selected in the last two years. An established All Black is anyone who has played more than 10 tests.

Nor is it thought likely that the NZRU will consider changing the current structure of transfer fees.

Presently a union that buys an All Black deemed to be in the 'super-star' category has to pay a transfer fee of $125,000. That figure drops to $75,000 for current All Blacks, working its way down to a minimum of $5000.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY