Rugby: Rising to new depths

Jared Payne. Photo / Getty Images

Forever labelled the greatest poachers of players, Canterbury are in fact the most prolific producer of raw talent having developed more current professionals for Super Rugby than anyone else.

Of New Zealand's 160 contracted professionals, 25 came through the Canterbury schools system and played the bulk of their formative years there. Wellington, with 22 players in this year's Super 15, are the second biggest developer while Auckland come in third with 21 players.

Determining which province can lay claim to an individual's development is an inexact process. Some players move regions to further their secondary education while others are schooled in one place, then picked up by an academy programme elsewhere.

Some individuals become synonymous with a particular province - like Richie McCaw at Canterbury - but actually spent their development years in another region and maybe even dreamed of playing for any other union than the one they now represent. McCaw was born in Oamaru before going to school at Otago Boys' High School in Dunedin.

Take Joe Rokocoko - he moved to Manurewa from Fiji when he was five and attended James Cook High School before he won a scholarship to St Kentigern College - which is in Manukau but plays in the Auckland schools competition.

He played for the Blues at just 19 and has been a contracted Auckland player all his professional career. But he is a product of Counties Manukau.

Jared Payne is another with a complex background. Born in Tauranga, he's contracted to Northland and the Blues having had time with the Crusaders. The bulk of his schooling was at Hamilton Boys' High and he came through the Waikato Academy - making him a product of the Waikato.

Disagreement will always reign about development ownership, but if the basic criteria is built on where players spent their formative years (13-19) then Canterbury is the leading province.

That the major Metropolitan areas develop the most players is hardly a surprise, although the order in which they fall is. Auckland, with about 23,000 registered players, constitutes about one-seventh or 14 per cent of New Zealand's total and has a population of about 600,000 people within its boundaries.

Statistically it should top the chart and in previous years there have been as many as 31 contracted Auckland players - the bulk of whom were developed in the city - spread across the Super Rugby ranks.

Auckland's relatively low standing highlights the tough times the union has experienced since last winning the national title in 2007. The numbers also do much to debunk the myth that Canterbury is solely a parasitic union - cleverly waiting for others to do the hard work and then swooping in with the chequebook.

Canterbury's work in the transfer market is not at the expense of their internal development. What distorts the picture is the make-up of what most would consider the Crusaders' strongest XV. It would seem that the home grown players are good for provincial rugby, but struggle to make the next step.

Only four players - Owen and Ben Franks, Andy Ellis and Dan Carter - are Canterbury-developed. The rest - Corey Flynn (Southland), Sam Whitelock (Manawatu), Brad Thorn (Otago/Australia), George Whitelock (Manawatu), Richie McCaw (Otago), Kieran Read (Counties Manukau), Sonny BillWilliams (Auckland), Robbie Fruean (Wellington), Zac Guildford (Hawke's Bay), Sean Maitland (Waikato) and Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay) - are imports.

The presence of two players each from Manawatu and Hawke's Bay and one from Counties - all of whom
are All Blacks - alludes to not only the Crusaders' adept talent identification but also the important role these three North Island provinces play in producing raw talent.

Hawke's Bay provide 13 professional players, Counties 12 andManawatu 10.What impresses more is the number of test players coming from those regions.

Dagg, Guildford, Bryn Evans, Alby Mathewson and Hika Elliot come from the Bay; Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Rokocoko, Jerome Kaino, Lelia Masaga, Read, John Afoa and Keven Mealamu from Counties; and Aaron Cruden, Jason Eaton and the Whitelock brothers from Manawatu.

All three of these regions are served by either one or two iconic schools. Hawke's Bay have Napier Boys' High
School as well as the improving Lindisfarne College in Hastings. In Manawatu there is the perennially strong Palmerston North Boys' High and the powerful Feilding High School, while Counties have Wesley College - arguably the most famous rugby school in the world having produced Jonah Lomu.

Counties best typify the issues facing smaller regions when it comes to player retention. They produced six of the All Blacks who toured the UK last year, none of whom actually play for the province, which goes some way to explaining why the Steelers have spent much of their professional life in the old second division or at the basement of the new premier league.

Steelers coach Milton Haig says the longer term goal is to turnaround those retention numbers but accepts the lack of consistent success in the region has forced players to look elsewhere.

"I just don't think the legacy of success has been there. One swallow does not make a summer," he says in reference to the improved campaign in 2010, "but over the years many players have felt they needed to leave to get ahead.

"Typically, the perception has been that the players being developed here are great athletes, very physical and abrasive, capable of playing a powerful style, but are a little raw. That is changing a bit. Schools rugby in the last three years is getting better."

Without a track record of provincial success and a hard-to-dislodge perception that Super Rugby selection is next to impossible from a smaller province, many young Counties players and to a lesser extent Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Tasman and Bay of Plenty players are susceptible to big-city offers.

For Counties, the battle to keep players is made harder by the proximity of Auckland and Waikato. For the likes of Rokocoko, Kaino and Afoa (who were at St Kent's at the same time), a shift to Auckland holds little trepidation - it's all greater Auckland and essentially just one city.

The difficulty for Counties is that when their players make agegrade national teams, the agents and scouts start circling - making big promises.

Traditionally that has been the case for the likes of Manawatu and Hawke's Bay as well, but certainly the latter has enjoyed more success in recent years at keeping players in Napier.

The shift to direct contracting at Super Rugby has helped - the likes of Dagg and Guildford were able to sign with the Crusaders but retain their contracts with the Magpies. Elliot, Evans, Karl Lowe and Daniel Kirkpatrick are also still with Hawke's Bay and it's easier to see the success the region has had in developing players when so many stay loyal.

That is the antithesis of Poverty Bay, who arguably have the most impressive stats of all. They have produced four of the current fulltime professionals with Hosea Gear, Charlie Ngatai, James Broadhurst and Craig Clarke all coming from the region.

All but Broadhurst (Campion College) were at Gisborne Boys' High School - now considered one of the country's heavyweight rugby schools. Former professionals Rua Tipoki and Rico Gear were also at Gisborne Boys' and, with a roll of just 750, this is a school and region that is punching well above its weight.

"We were national champs in 2007," says director of sport Mark Jefferson. "We have got a pretty good record in competitions and rugby has been a big part of the culture of the school for the last 100 years.

"The players that have gone on to bigger things tend to retain a strong link. Rico Gear has just come back from Japan and he has been down a couple of times. Whenever Hosea is at home he comes to watch the first XV and Rua Tipoki is another who gets involved."