Bastareaud on track for Toulon return at No.8

At the very least I don't see how the Dragons can be sustainable.

I think you need to take a step back and look at why it's there. That rule was put in place simply to ensure players knew where they stood when it comes to selection, it is a 'were not going to go to all the difficulty of including you if you leave' understanding, 'were not going to give one AB special treatment over any other'. It has only morphed into a concept of using it as a means to keep the game alive in NZ as an afterthought.

You also don't seem to understand who he is talking to. He's not saying players aren't able to be an international level without loyalty or sacrifice, he's addressing the public and telling them, 'look, you just have to accept you need to make a sacrifice to be an All Black, don't feel entitled in wanting to see Mo'unga playing before he returns to New Zealand' etc. As you suggest, we would not have the same view if the game here was in as perilous a position as South Africa's was.

Closing borders is historically a silly economic idea, why should it be any different in national level sports?

The current stance is actually the opposite of that. They are increasing the value of their domestic product in order to gain the most economic advantage globally.

If you want to actually analyze the concept, think about what SA is having to do and ask yourself whether it's worth it. For example, Mo'unga would only have a few weeks off a year if it was to both play in the NH and for the AB's, so that isn't obviously going to happen. He would most likely need to abstain from the Rugby Championship (being between the start and end of each of his club season) or parts of it, so the All Blacks wouldn't want to select him for the International window before that, as they want to give their 10 who will be playing in the RC time to hit peak performance, along with this team. I quite like the idea of having 3 to 5 'World' spots outside the team for players to come in for and they can be a part of the team helping the youngsters etc, it is still mainly a holiday for them but they can play in the case of an emergency etc.

Isn't it such a beautiful sport because of aspects like these Keith? Otherwise, wouldn't it be exactly like football as you suggest?

Changing up scene so that South Africa aren't beating thier competition all the time will mean enlarging that pool of teams (in SA you still keep the current ones but in NZ they're made up so can so be canned).

I don't think you realise how many SA'n players are abroad at the also ran level in places like Japan and America, and I assume in Europe as well. Your last sentence is the foundation behind how NZ systems is built as well.