KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) is braced to lose more elite All Blacks after this year's World Cup campaign.
Experienced five-eighth Aaron Mauger, who yesterday confirmed a 2-1/2 year deal with English club Leicester, could be the first of several Cup-bound players to sacrifice their test careers after the All Blacks bid to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy for the first time in 20 years at Paris in October.
Mauger, 26, leaves for the current English Premiership leaders in December though made a point of emphasising he intended to return to Canterbury to wind up his career when the Leicester stint expires mid-2010.
He also expressed a desire to play for the All Blacks when New Zealand hosts the 2011 World Cup.
The 38-test veteran hopes to follow a precedent set by provincial and All Blacks teammate Leon MacDonald, who headed to Japan after New Zealand's failed attempt to win the Cup in 2003.
He subsequently returned and is now a fixture in Graham Henry's squad.
All Blacks have traditionally headed for English, French or Japanese clubs when their test careers were on the wane.
However, the moves by MacDonald and Mauger illustrate stars are willing to cash in during their prime and then take their chances of making the All Blacks after they return home.
NZRU deputy chief executive Steve Tew said he expected more players to emulate the pair, particularly given the significance of this year.
"Some high profile players are at a stage in their career where they were always going to use 2007 as a bit of a milestone to reconsider what they do next," Tew told Radio Sport.
"Aaron is a classic case in point."
He also cited MacDonald as an example of the door not necessarily being closed once players headed offshore.
"He wanted to try something different. He made his call, had his two years experience in Japan and he came back."
Tew admitted it was a "fact of life" some All Blacks would depart regardless of how the Cup campaign turned out.
"We've planned for that. One of the reasons we went to 14 teams in the Air New Zealand Cup is to build greater player depth.
"The (All Blacks) conditioning programme has also exposed 22 new players this year (in Super 14)."
- NZPA
