Charles Piutau: Craig Dowd hopes he has made an "informed" decision to head to Ulster © Getty Images

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New Zealand is used to losing good players to the northern hemisphere but Charles Piutau's decision to head north caught many by surprise, especially when there was so much ahead for him in the All Blacks. Now he's been joined by midfield back Francis Saili. It's very difficult if you are in their position to turn big money down, and you can't really blame the players when they look at that.

Piutau, a frontline Test player, hopefully isn't leaving New Zealand expecting to get his All Blacks jersey back on demand. You are an All Black for a moment in time, and while you are playing for the All Blacks inside New Zealand, playing for your country, you hang onto that jersey. But it is never your jersey by right; you always have to earn it. Piutau shouldn't expect New Zealand Rugby to save a position for him for when he comes back in two years' time expecting it to be his. If he does come back, he is going to have to fight for the jersey. I hope he has deliberated on that, long and hard.

New Zealand Rugby is not going to sit round and wait for him. It is their job to blood the next player through the period when he is not going. Nehe Milner-Skudder is out there playing the house down, and James Lowe has all the cut for that next level, and these players at whom New Zealand Rugby has to look for where their loyalties lie.

Anyone making these choices need only look at Hosea Gear's situation, after his return from Japan to the Chiefs this year. He wouldn't be in the top 10 wingers in New Zealand right now.

Playing offshore is different for a back, especially. You don't get the same coaching, and you don't get the same level of competition that Kiwis do in Super Rugby and the ITM Cup - which is a fantastic competition for developing and blooding players.

Nehe Milner-Skudder's progress from the ITM Cup shos the value of that competition © Getty Images

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Back play in the northern hemisphere is not as good as in Super Rugby. Contrasting that, you might argue that forward play is better in the northern hemisphere - although that is an area for debate among a lot of people.

So the question is whether going to play in Ireland will make Piutau and Saili better players? And in Piutau's case, is going to Belfast going to help him?

Ravenhill is not a ground for backs to shine, Craig Dowd believes © RTESports

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I can tell him he shouldn't expect Ravenhill to help his back play, as the wind blasts in off the ocean at 120 knots and the rain goes sideways. He had better be prepared to kick and had better learn to catch because that is about all that a fullback is going to get at Ulster.

I am familiar with Ulster, as one of the first Heineken Cup games I played was at Ravenhill; it was a doggy forward battle. It's a place where backs might as well put stockings on, and thermals underneath, because they are not going to see much ball.

I don't know if someone told Charles Piutau that - or if he jumped on a plane and went over there and visited - but it is a big decision to make if you don't know where you are going.

It is probably fair to question whether the Blues' situation has helped him make up his mind. Environment does count, and everyone likes to turn up to work liking what they do. You want to come back the next day and you plan for the long term.

Quite possibly with the way the Blues have gone, and where they are sitting in the competition, he may not be enjoying it. But that is only speculation. The reality is the money is growing from these northern clubs, and the amount of money rugby players are getting paid these days is increasing and we can't match it in New Zealand.

How we keep these players in New Zealand when we start talking seven figures is difficult, and it is certainly difficult for New Zealand Rugby. What they do have is the lure of the All Blacks jersey, and all they can do is give that jersey to the person who is going to be loyal.

Francis Saili: "So I think good luck to him if he has been offered good money in Munster" © Getty Images

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I hear people mentioning Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith among others who are leaving so why the big deal around Piutau? The difference is they are not looking to reclaim their All Black careers post leaving.

Francis Saili is probably a little different. He's not the high-profile player that Piutau is, and he has so far struggled to recapture that good form of his two seasons ago. So I think good luck to him if he has been offered good money in Munster because he is sitting behind Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams, Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Ryan Crotty and all the other coming through like Charles Ngatai; if you add others who are coming through, he has probably dropped well down the pecking order. He has probably made an informed decision.

Hurricanes march on

The Hurricanes, as we have noted earlier, have six members of an All Blacks backline in a XV that is absolutely on fire. We have talked about players leaving and others putting their hand up and we come back to Milner-Skudder, who has had a fine year. He's on the end of a line of six current All Blacks and behind a forward pack that is firing.

Given all the concerns about the Blues, I thought their game with the Chiefs was a cracker. The Blues played well and showed what they are capable of. It was the best game they have played all year.

I felt the difference in the Blues last week was definitely the speed they played at. They were more competitive at the breakdown, they threw numbers in there, and Jamison Gibson-Park offered just that little extra speed at halfback. That allowed them to test the Chiefs' defence, which is what you want to do. If the halfback is not going to play at that pace, you become predictable and the defence is going to line up against them. And Gibson-Park played the best game I have seen him play in the Blues jersey.

Meanwhile, there is a concern is in the South African Conference. The Sharks did not look a table-topping outfit against the Crusaders. Take nothing away from the Crusaders; they had some fantastic touches and they punished the one-dimensional Sharks when they had the opportunity. When you add to that the way the Stormers have played in New Zealand, against the Highlanders and Hurricanes, you have to wonder. The two things a coach can bring to a team are environment and attitude because you can only coach so much at that level with players who have been around, who understand the game and who know how to play it. So you have to wonder what is going on.

People can say that Super Rugby is not international rugby, but when so many teams are playing below par in South Africa you do have to think they have a lot of work to do when they come together.

Compare that with the Highlanders, Hurricanes, Chiefs and the Crusaders.

The black jersey is on offer, the players are competing for the right to wear it and they are standing up. Anyone wanting to go to the World Cup has got to push themselves forward. You would expect the same to be coming out of South Africa.