Opinion - It's a bit difficult being a New Zealand rugby fan when you're discussing Brad Shields. On one hand, you have to give credit to a great servant of Wellington and Hurricanes rugby - a province he was born and bred into.
Shields' call up does seem desperate by England, but it is pertinent to remember that it's been in the works for a while now. Photo: Photosport
He is, in the eyes of the more sentimental types, what the game is built on in this country. A no-nonsense grafter, with barely a word of criticism levelled at him during his career.
On the other hand, it's natural to simply think his selection for England is really no big deal in the grand scheme of things for New Zealand Rugby. There's a reason Shields was also labelled 'unlucky' when it came to missing out on All Black selection, because he had the unfortunate timing of having his career coincide with the likes of Jerome Kaino, Liam Messam, Liam Squire, Elliot Dixon and Steven Luatua. Right now he'd be about the fifth cab off the rank for the All Black number six jersey if Steve Hansen had a fully fit squad of players to pick from right now.
So is it fair to say that his departure to play for England is a blight on the state of their game right now?
It certainly looks that way, given that Shields is being rushed into their test squad without having even played a game in the English Premiership for his new club Wasps. It's even worse when this is the same English team that suffered a dramatic change in fortunes over the last few months.
Remember, this is an England side that managed to go through an entire season undefeated. The one that had high hopes of toppling the All Blacks at the end of this year, and therefore become frontrunners to win the World Cup.
That seems a long time ago now. England slumped to three straight defeats in this year's Six Nations tournament for their worst finish ever in its expanded format. Eddie Jones has gone from messiah to pariah, with local fans finally getting the reality check that he's only good for a couple of years in one job before something goes wrong.
Shields' call up, right now, does seem desperate. But it is pertinent to remember that it's been in the works for a while now, long before England reverted back to their usual state of overpaid, unskilled underachievers. A shift north for him has been a talking point for years given the talent that stood in his way of an All Black spot, and the prospect of him switching allegiances to England seriously emerged over a year ago.
However, his impending international debut for England probably could have waited till after the June test series against the Springboks. That's the view of NZ Rugby anyway, at least according to head of Professional Rugby Chris Lendrum's hilariously passive-aggressive statement released yesterday:
"We have taken some time to carefully work through the complexities of this request, to ensure that we gave appropriate consideration to his specific circumstances. In the end, we are happy with the terms of his temporary release. We are extremely disappointed that the RFU chose to take this unusual step in seeking this release given that Brad has not yet played rugby in England.
"It seems highly unusual that they can't find players within their own county to pick."
That touch at the end there to remind the RFU that they're having a favour done for them, but mainly because it'll make NZR look like jerks if they didn't.
Because now Shields will get his chance to play test rugby, and good luck to him. It'll just be in a jersey which is presumably the opposite colour of the one he spent most of his life hoping for.
