Outgoing Blues coach Vern Cotter has called for “better alignment” in New Zealand Rugby, after All Blacks flanker Dalton Papali’i became the latest player to head overseas.
Papali’i, 28, on Monday revealed he would move to French club Castres Olympique at the end of the Super Rugby Pacific season, effectively ending his All Blacks career.
The 37-cap back-rower last year fell out of favour under All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, who was sacked in January, and was reportedly one of a number of players whose feedback was sought during NZR’s season review.
But even the prospect of a new All Blacks coach, tipped to be either Dave Rennie or Jamie Joseph, wasn’t enough to keep Papali’i in New Zealand, with his Blues boss lamenting a lack of dialogue between player and national management.
“I think we should be [worried] and need to have better alignment, better conversations and earlier conversations with players such as Dalton,” Cotter told reporters on Tuesday. “He felt he had more to contribute but wasn’t invited, so he made a decision to move,” Cotter said.
“He’s captain material and he could have been an All Blacks captain. Losing him from New Zealand rugby hurts a bit, but he’s got a family and a lot of other things to take into consideration.”
Papali’i will join fellow Blues Hoskins Sotutu and AJ Lam in heading overseas at the end of the season in what will be a significant loss of experience for the 2024 Super Rugby champions, who are also on the hunt for a new coach with Cotter heading to Brisbane to take charge at the Reds.
While Sotutu hasn’t played for the All Blacks since November 2022, Papali’i only last year turned out at Test level and could have earned a recall this year if he had decided to stay in New Zealand.
But the flanker said he was also on the hunt for other opportunities and wanted to experience some of the other destinations that rugby could take him, and also set up his family for the future.
“That added to the weight of the decision, I love the All Blacks and making the decision to not be available for that, it was very tough,” Papali’i said of the reality his Test career was done, at least for the next few years.
“Rugby’s a big part of my career, and the All Blacks and the Blues, so closing a chapter on that book was hard to come to. But like I keep going back to, I’ve got really important things in my life and that’s my family I want to support, and also have new goals that I can chase.”
Papali’i also spoke recently of his time in the All Blacks XV last year, after he was overlooked by Robertson for the Rugby Championship and the end-of-year tour, the flanker praising All Blacks coaching candidate Joseph for the environment he’d created, in what may help the Highlanders boss get the nod ahead of Rennie.
“I really had a good relationship with Jamie Jo and … I felt like I was back to my old self [at the All Blacks XV],” Papali’i told TVNZ earlier this month.
“I feel like I play better with the weight of being a leader. Going into the ABs XV, I got that role back again, the captaincy, and I took it with both hands. I enjoyed it and felt like I played well again.
“Everyone bought into the culture and it was a credit to Jamie Jo and the coaches – they set up the environment for everyone to be at their best and I loved it.”
NZR is expected to make a decision on Robertson’s replacement in the coming weeks.
