• Super League Manawatu Flanker Gibbins Off to Scotland

    Making New Zealand Great Again might make a good rallying cry for a political race, as it seems to work, despite entirely lacking any substantive meaning, in other parts of the world. One of the issues could be a promise to place some sort of punitive tariff on European clubs that poach Kiwi rugby players.

    A recent announcement that the Hurricanes have surrendered Callum Gibbins to, of all places, Glasgow, Scotland, serves as the perfect example of the never-ending poaching going on where Kiwi clubs develop talent, only to see it spirited away by deeper pockets in the north.

    Ask yourself: How much would it require for you to abandon the paradise that is New Zealand for the gloom of Scotland?

    The 28-year-old flanker will serve out his commitment to Manawatu in the Super Rugby League before embarking on a three-year sojourn in the land of Nessie.

    He is not the only Kiwi headed in the direction of Loch Ness, either, as former Manawatu coaches Dave Rennie and Jason O’Halloran are taking over Glasgow to supply instruction as to how rugby was meant to be played.

    It might seem easier to simply pack the entire operation off to the Isles, rather than watch it unfold piecemeal, but it is a disturbing trend that is seeing increasing numbers of southern hemisphere-trained ruggers heading off to greener and wetter pastures.