Schoolgirl sensation Dhys Faleafaga returns to SVNS with new purpose

There must be what, a dozen top players not sharing their knowledge in the URC teams? It's that loss which will create decline. Just have to see if the upside is greater (the part you're referring to with increased quality could be put down to having more funds available for a PONI group and/or your players increasing their standards because theyre not in SR or URC anymore).

SA's improvement could have been from many other factors as well, far too many to name. I see you go on to acknowledge these idea too, and we may never know the answer.

We all know ABs fans expect to be the best there ever was for all and eternity; and undoubtedly NZ will always be sitting at the high table due to rugby culture and exceptional athletes, but to suggest that allowing overseas players into the national team will automatically decrease domestic strength has no basis in reality.

Sorry Keith, but this is the only certainty in this debate (if you mean directly and immediately, certainly long term it is debatable). The dilemma faced here is that you're dammed if you do, dammed if you don't, because despite your respectful words this underlying battle revolves around their even being an "eternity" for the game here. In a nutshell, the true question asked in these parts is "which of these two options is going to slow down the inevitable death of rugby in New Zealand more?"

He is saying that "if you part with 'millions', your loyalty should be rewarded with eligibility", not "you're not sacrificing so therefor you're not good enough".

You weren't the only one who suffered sleepless nights Steve!

So we might need a bit more detail around Faf's career (he continued to be wild from his matchs in RC so can't judge his progression by the Lions/Sharks change) but how did his understudy go? I assume Faf was first choice at the Lions? Was the development of the next 9 hindered by not having the pro their to guide him or did the extra gametime help his development more? And did Faf then return, or was his increased experience levels completely lost of the next 9 (who came through in say 3 years time) coming through in the Lions?

As a great anecdote to your example, Brad Weber of the title winning Chiefs sad that during his first season he'd done more box kicking that year than what all the players combined at the Cheifs would have done throughout his whole career. No doubt, we can assume he is a much better box kicker now (lol), that should be a good advantage if he was to return it can allow alternate ways of playing. The Chiefs are not really a team where that is likely to be advantageous however, what could change their though if is NZ started to have a more fluid contracting environment all round. Weber could be a very good signing for a 10 man team like the Blues were this year under Vern Cotter, and that signing wouldn't happen unless NZ changes its mindset, with one key aspect being that he could have continued his involvement with NZ (the XV's etc) teams while in France.

Currently though the climate is that he'd never not return to the Chiefs if he came back, so there is zero chance of taking advantage of the sort of scenario you provide.

But on the flip side, we also have to ask ourselves "what negative impact was there from contracting Aaron Smith to NZ"? Trying to retain Aaron would no doubt have cost a lot of money. This investment put into one player, and then a second in TJP who arguably retained as much upside in keeping, no doubt meant that they wanted to get as much out of it, playing him as much as possible and having him as the 'pin up' boy. Does this greatly reduce the chance for other players, like Tawera kerr-Barlow, to continue with NZ and reach their potential? Does being so desperate to keep one mean that another is always lost in return?

Kiwi coaches are slowly but surely destroying Australian rugby too. What young Australian kid wants to grow up to be coached by a kiwi ? Sorry kiwis but it's zero.

We don't really like you that much.

Australian rugby fans were manically depressed after 6 years of Deans. Rennie just dragged us down further and further to a ranking of 8 or 9. Schmidt is doing exactly the same by trying to destroy team cohesion with all his chopping and changing and selecting players in the wrong position or Tah pretenders.

It will be interesting to see if anyone can beat the SR sides when the world club tournament comes around. Really the NZ sides will need to dominate the worlds best clubs if they should consider their own league to have some sort of 'quality'. I say dominate of course because theres only 5 pro clubs in NZ, so you get less 'variety' in competition, so the standard of the smaller competition should be proportionately higher, if you can understand what I'm trying to say.