The head of Super Rugby Pacific wants to see a world where the best players can jump between New Zealand and Australian-based teams and not lose eligibility to represent their nation internationally.

Super Rugby Pacific chairman Kevin Malloy, who is steering the ship until newly appointed chief executive Jack Mesley starts on July 22, told the Rugby Direct Podcast having the likes of Ardie Savea and Richie Mo’unga playing for Australian teams would be a game-changer.

“[From a] personal perspective ... Andrew Forrest at the Force could probably write as big a cheque as the guys have written in Japan. And if [Richie Mo’unga] was allowed to stay and that was still within the Super Rugby ecosystem [and] was still eligible for the All Blacks. How good would that be, right, for the competition? Ardie Savea goes to the Waratahs, that would help the competition and the crowd as well.

“Take some of these really good players and allow them to move within the ecosystem of Super Rugby, that just, even if it was just an arrangement with the top 15, 20 players, so you’re not necessarily impacting the high-performance development of younger players coming through, but once you’ve reached that superstar status, you can start ranking these players and there’s a cost for them and they can move around the competition, and again, purely from a competition perspective, how cool would that be?”

Malloy told hosts Elliott Smith and Liam Napier a draft would probably be a bridge too far.

He also revealed work was under way investigating the future of Super Rugby. The competition will feature only 11 teams next year after the demise of the Melbourne Rebels, but from 2026 onwards will be introducing at least another team.

Malloy also revealed powerbrokers were assessing what the finals looked like going forward, such as featuring only six teams, not eight, and the feasibility of running Super Weekend, where all the teams play in one stadium during Anzac Day weekend.

Kevin Malloy revealed work was under way investigating the future of Super Rugby. Photo / www.photosport.nz

Malloy’s comments come after Aaron Smith told the Rugby Direct Podcast last month he believed a change in criteria that allowed long-serving All Blacks to be selected from offshore was needed.

The long-standing policy of selecting All Blacks from only within New Zealand is rapidly becoming a hotly contested issue. Scott Robertson placed the item firmly on the agenda after his appointment as All Blacks coach and a request for the NZ Rugby board to keep an open mind.

Several senior All Blacks, including Ardie Savea, have since urged NZ Rugby to amend the steadfast rules. The debate then reached a crescendo in late March when NZ Rugby general manager of professional rugby Chris Lendrum revealed conversations were ongoing to try to entice Richie Mo’unga home early from his lucrative three-season Japanese deal with Toshiba.

Damaging loose forward Shannon Frizell — also at Toshiba until mid-2025 — and former Crusaders wing/centre Leicester Fainga’anuku, now with French club Toulon, are other assets in the prime of their careers who NZ Rugby was gutted to lose.

Citing South Africa’s success in selecting the Springboks from abroad, Smith said New Zealand should adopt a more flexible approach akin to Australia’s Giteau law, which permits the Wallabies to select up to three players who have played 30 tests or five Super Rugby seasons. Such a policy would allow Mo’unga (56 tests over seven years), but potentially not Frizell (33 tests) and Fainga’anuku (seven) to represent the All Blacks from abroad.

“The last two World Cups show that maybe it isn’t the way. For our country, our market of Super Rugby and harnessing our talent, playing in New Zealand helps the game ... My only view would be there has to be a criteria for something, like if you’ve played eight years or 60 tests. There needs to be a criteria so not all our young talent takes off.

“Players could be eligible to go abroad and still give back to the country. That’s where I think it would be fair. By no means do I want all our 21-year-old, 10-test All Blacks taking off to Japan and not helping that next group come through. There has to be a group above a certain amount of tests and time in the team that gives you the opportunity to earn more money and still play for the All Blacks like South Africa have done — they’re two-time champs in a row. There has to be some gravy in that.

“I think by this next World Cup there will be changes to that criteria. We’ve got enough smart people at the NZRU to come up with a criteria that not all our top talent leaves. You’re talking about four or five players who are deserving of that top-end money and will still be wearing the black jersey. I’d say in the next few years there will be something that will move.”

Luke Kirkness is a sports editor for the NZ Herald. He previously covered consumer affairs for the Herald and was an assistant news director in the Bay of Plenty. He won Student Journalist of the Year in 2019.