The Fijians, Samoans and Tongans . . . the most natural rugby nations on earth - weren't receiving back then, and aren't receiving now, their fair share of the rugby cake. Not only that, their greatest natural resource, the players themselves, were being hijacked by the Wallabies and All Blacks. It just didn't seem fair and a year on, it still doesn't.

When we wrote about the plight of the Pacific Islands last year, and the blame we put on New Zealand for pillaging their players, we got a flurry of protesting emails from the Kiwi community in Dublin. Who would have thought there were so many New Zealanders in Dublin? Who would have thought that so many of them actually bought the Tribune? They argued their case well and a lot of it made sense but we still weren't convinced. From our point of view, New Zealand rugby sees Fiji, Tonga and Samoa as islands full of potential All Blacks who could qualify to pull on the shirt under the three year residency rule. Nothing else.

They have a one-track mind.

Now, though, the auld shoe is being slipped to the other foot. The talent is still flowing from the Islands to New Zealand . . . there doesn't appear to be any way or will to stop it . . . but over the next year or so, the All Blacks are set to lose a number of key players to European rugby. Nothing new there, you might say, but what was once a trickle is set to become something a bit stronger in the not too distant future.

The quality of the flight is expected to up a few levels too.

It's all because of Graham Henry's bright and expansive All Black selection policy. Well that, and the complexities of European working law. As it is, Kiwis who want to play professional rugby in Europe have a couple of differing work treaties to deal with. If they have heritage from anywhere within the EU, they can play there without any hassle.

They're not counted as foreign players.

If they don't have any blood from our side of the world, then the problems start.

In Ireland and France, things are simple. New Zealanders can play professional rugby for whoever they want just so long as their team has no more than two foreign players in their matchday squad.

In England, Scotland and Wales, however, it's slightly more complicated.

Any New Zealander with European heritage needs to be granted an entertainers or sportsperson visa by her majesty's government in order to take the field. The only way you're deemed eligible for one of these visas is if you've played a test match for your country in the past 15 months.

And that's where Graham Henry's expansive selection policy over the past 12 months comes into play.

The former Lions coach brought and capped 45 players on the All Blacks' Grand Slam tour to Britain and Ireland last November, while he currently has 39 players in camp for the series against Ireland and Argentina. All told that's a total of 54 players who've pulled on that famous black shirt over the past eight months. Fifty-four players who are now fully eligible to ply their trade with a British club over the next year or two, no matter what ancestry they've had.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen. Only 30 players are going to travel with the All Blacks to the World Cup next year, which leaves 24 recent internationals at home, many of whom will be wondering about their future. Enter the British clubs, who can offer them both a chance to shake off the ghost of their pasts and a nice few quid sterling with which to line their pockets. A couple of years earning the queen's pound would set most players up with a nice house, at the very least, on the way home.

Sure, the likes of Dan Carter (left), Richie McCaw and assorted others are never likely to abandon their country, but the David Hill's, Jimmy Cowen's and John Afoe's of this world will certainly be enticed. And now they'll be eligible.

It may not make any difference for this World Cup, but in the build up to 2011, a whole host of half-decent players are likely to be earning their crust in Britain, most likely with Guinness Premiership clubs.

This relaxed, almost cushy build-up these top All Blacks have been enjoying to the World Cup will no longer be an option. The top echelon of players in the country will have to spend more time on the pitch than in the stands and that will have a knock-on effect with injuries and general wear and tear. It's going to be a tough for them but don't let your heart bleed for the All Blacks too much. It's a fair trade for the players they've gleaned from the Pacific Islands over the past 20 years.