New Zealand Rugby says that they are open to the idea of introducing a player draft to Super Rugby.

In a lengthy and wide-ranging podcast interview with the Rugby Direct podcast in New Zealand, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan reiterated his enthusiasm for the introduction of a player draft to the southern hemisphere club competition.

The idea of evenly distributing the talent across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific has gained traction, with the feeling that it would boost the competitiveness and viewership numbers in Super Rugby.

New Zealand’s teams have dominated the tournament and are set to add another trophy to their 19 combined titles, with the Chiefs and Crusaders competiting for the 2023 season honours.

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, NZR’s manager of professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum admitted that the idea is worth further discussion.

“It’s complex from a high-performance perspective because we want this competition to be great in its own right, but there’s no denying the fact the competition feeds the All Blacks, Wallabies, Flying Fijians, Samoa and Tonga,” said Lendrum.

“You have to make sure whatever the eligibility rules are, they’re still going to enable all of those teams to be strong on the international stage.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s all too hard. We’ve definitely got an open mind around this in the future.

“I think the key is making sure everybody involved in the competition can invest at the same level in terms of their development; so it’s not one country’s development system subsidising other countries; that everybody can come and contribute equally. Then you get that, potentially very compelling, spread of talent and competition.”

Photo: MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP