What do you think?

Yeah, I think, um, you know, he's gone really, really well.

I- I've no doubt they're not gonna take Richie over there and put him, uh, straight in for, uh, for Mr.

Love.

I think he's been exceptional, and they'll probably just have Richie there as a backup or pushing, uh, Ruben for that number 10 spot.

But I don't think by, by calling Richie in there means that Ruben Love is out of favor or he's done anything wrong.

I think he's been an absolute find for the All Blacks this year, and he's just, not just for the Hurricanes, but he's going from strength to strength.

He says, "I'm not happy about Richie playing here, that he's shown no loyalty to the AB jersey."

What do you think?

Yeah, I think, um, you know, he's gone really, really well.

I, I've, I've no doubt they're not gonna take Richie over there and put him, uh, straight in for, uh, for Mr.

Love.

I think he's been exceptional, and they'll probably just have Richie there as a backup or pushing, uh, Ruben for that number 10 spot.

But I don't think by, by calling Richie in there means that Ruben Love is out of favor or he's done anything wrong.

I think he's been an absolute find for the All Blacks this year, and he's just, not just for the Hurricanes, but he's going from strength to strength.

He's shown no loyalty to the AB jersey."

So when he arrived in Japan, were you at all surprised at the level of professionalism and ability that he brought, or did you always know that's what you were getting?

No, I was really surprised just what a great leader he is.

how driven he is, how motivated he is.

I actually first selected Richie with the Crusaders and then obviously he had a big spell under Razor and I went overseas and then when we finally hooked up I was absolutely surprised just how much he had grown in that time and I could see why the way that he conducted himself, the way he integrates with his fellow teammates, his leadership on the field, I could see that he is a very, very special guy when it comes to not only leadership but but on field leadership as well in his decision-making.

I mean, we won two titles under him.

He's an amazing player.

I presume Shannon Frizzell can as well then, can he? You'd back him once he gets

over his latest injury to do the same? Oh, gosh, you know, he's on fire.

So when he arrived in Japan, you know, were you at all surprised at the level of professionalism and ability that he brought? Or did you always know that's what you were getting?

No, I was really surprised just how what a great leader he is.

how driven he is, how motivated he is.

I actually first selected Richie with the Crusaders and then obviously he had a big spell under Asia and I went overseas.

And then when we finally hooked up, I was absolutely surprised just how much he had grown in that time.

And I could see why the way that he conducted himself, the way he integrates with his fellow teammates, his leadership on the field, I could see that he is a very, very special guy when it comes to not only leadership, but on-field leadership as well in his decision-making.

I mean, we won two titles under him.

I presume Shannon Frizzell can as well then, can he? You'd back him once he gets

I hated the result, I enjoyed the game, and I enjoyed what it gave in terms of how, how it showed what you have to do to win games of rugby like that.

Yeah, I think, um, uh, yeah, like I really like perspective pieces as well, and it's actually good to get d- people's different perspectives on how they see things.

I, I sort of read that article as well, and I thought basically he was really saying, like, that the standard and the quality of, of the consistency isn't good enough from some of our elite players.

But I think that too, like, he's probably right there.

Um, but I think too that's, uh, I think for, for Dave Rennie and the All Black coaches looking at the teams and the players right across the board is that, you know, they'll be looking ...

You know, there, there's been so much pressure.

I mean, there's been so many, um, the games have been so physical.

I j- I just don't get how that argument links together.

purely age or experiencing a different culture or the quality of rugby? Predominantly, what is that development? How has that come about, do you think, Todd?

I think it's all, everything that what you said, you know, like it's going away with your family, it's being in one place and seeing the way other teams and other cultures do things.

And probably, you know, there's parts of it too that he's probably thought, you know, I really miss, I really miss the big stage.

And that's obviously, you know, by not playing international rugby, this is his probably, you know, last opportunity to really do that.

And He's been in a really good environment with Toshiba, and he's probably had a really good space.

So I think all of those things have probably come together to make this a really, really good decision, not just for Richie, but the Crusaders and Canterbury and the All Blacks as well.

Do you want him back again once he's finished? Oh, Toshiba would have him in a heartbeat.

How long do you think he's going to need before he's right and ready?

There's something about Japanese rugby, I don't know, is it the culture, is it the place, it's the people that brings people up and gives them that separation, I suppose, from all-black rugby, something new and different, but it's invigorating almost.

Yeah, I think for some reason it's sort of everyone's sort of, just the players seem to really enjoy it.

It's probably a little bit different and kick-off time's a little bit different.

There's a lot of day rugby and there's probably more time to spend with your family.

There's probably not a lot outside of rugby, like when it comes to PR or media or functions or sponsorship and things like that.

So it just seems that it's a rugby focus and, you know, the environment's right over here.

Like the environment's across all teams.

What's the limitation on how many imports these teams can have? And does it have any detrimental effect to the national side, not having all of their players playing at that level? How does that operate, Todd?