The import debate: The IRFU import strategy aims to balance short- and long-term gain, writes Johnny Watterson

The bloodline industry has always been fraught: part genetics, part gamble, part instinct. Since the game opened up, the contours and pedigree have been a source of speculation for the Irish provinces.

The former All Black wing Jonah Lomu, following life-threatening illness, has been selected and will line out out today for Cardiff against the Italian side Calvisano. A purebred winner - everybody loves one.

Christian Cullen is another thoroughbred who has stuttered in the recent past. When the former All Black superstar arrived in Cork airport two seasons ago, hundreds turned out to greet him. You couldn't have imagined a similar scene at Dublin airport for anyone arriving to line out for Leinster, even Lomu.

Munster would have put a value on Cullen as a great backline talent, someone other players could learn from as well as a match-day attraction. There are more reasons than the most obvious for Irish provinces picking up overseas players past the peak of international careers.

Whether the foreign signing provides value for money is the subject of constant debate, but Munster believe they have gotten it more right than wrong over the years.

Cullen's two serious injuries have prompted "damaged goods" sniping, but when fit the New Zealander has been the province's most prolific try-scorer in the Celtic League.

Munster's imports make a long list. Some have stuck around. The former Australian international Jim Williams has managed to augment an already stellar reputation as a player with success as assistant coach.

Rhys Ellison, Jim Langford and Shaun Payne have also done well.

Of course besides the gems, Munster - no less than the other provinces - have had a few duds, players whose proven skills in New Zealand, Australia or South Africa simply didn't translate to an Irish context.

Clinton Hubert (Munster), Joule Vitality (Ulster) and Aaron Freeman (Leinster) are just three who struggled to hold contracts.

But the IRFU and provinces have faced criticism not just for occasionally buying unwisely from overseas. The tendency of an import policy to stifle the progress of younger indigenous talent has been one issue, the knock-on effect and the impact that will have on the national side being the overriding concern.

The IRFU-controlled Players Advisory Group (BAG) are the sole arbiters of who comes into Ireland to play and who does not. The provinces target the players they want and knock it back to the BAG, and they will say yes or no. The system is not inflexible but the provinces don't always get the players in which they have shown an interest.

Simon Easterby, for example, wanted to play for Leinster as his family came from Blackrock. The BAG said no, it had to be Ulster. Easterby wouldn't budge and stayed in Wales to play for Llanelli.

"By bringing in professional overseas players, it is of the utmost importance that we are not blocking the process for future Irish international players," says IRFU director of rugby Eddie Wigglesworth.

"It must be carefully approached. For example there is no point in having four foreign number 10s or number nines in Ireland. We don't like to see more than one foreign player per position. We have a policy regarding foreign high-profile players (Super 12 or higher) and that is three in each province."

The view of the provincial managers is that three players out of a panel of 32 is low-impact on the system, and once the selection process is strategically managed, the overseas recruits actually bring on, rather than retard the progress of, younger players.

The fact that many of the foreign stars such as Williams, Cullen and Ulster's Australian secondrow Justin Harrison were coming off their peak at international level was precisely why they were targeted.

"Ireland has 120 professional players contracted in this country. Before Australia's new side (Western Force) that was 30 players more than them," said a Munster executive.

"Look at what we are competing against, the market we are playing in. We are competing in the UK market and the French market. The difference is that the French and UK sides don't have to think about the English or French national sides because the clubs are controlled by individuals, not their unions as in Ireland.

"For us it is a balancing act. We have to win at provincial level in order to keep our best players in the country and we also have to think of providing the national team with quality players.

"I think Munster have made wise choices more often than not. Unwise choices happen everyone: Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan. You can pick one or two that didn't work out but that happens everywhere. It happens in Goffs when people go up and pay €1 million for a horse.

"There is way more than a player's ability that comes into the equation. There's the culture, the family, the partner, rapport with players and managers and luck."

Fewer than 10 per cent of the professional players in Ireland are non-national. In Munster the Springbok Sevens player Anthon Pitout (29) is on a short-term contract, while South African international Trevor Halstead (29) and Italian frontrow Federico Pucciariello (30) are regulars on the side. The former British and Irish rugby league player Gary Connolly, despite the heavy North of England accent, is Irish-qualified.

"Fellas come in at different levels for different requirements," says Leinster CEO Mick Dawson. "In my time we've had good imports (players) and some that maybe you would not have back again.

"Leinster is a feeder province for the international team but we also have to be conscious of the fact that we have to be competitive. You've got to marry both. Teams like Leicester or Saracens have no responsibilities but to win.

"We fight our case with the PAG. Sometimes you'd need two players, sometimes four. There's a lot of give and take."

Ironically, New Zealand are scratching their heads wondering how to deal with the drain of their experienced internationals looking for a few good paydays in the twilight of their careers. During the summer the former Ireland coach Warren Gatland used Ireland as an example of how they might solve that problem relatively cheaply - by introducing the sort of tax concessions athletes here enjoy.

But what hurts New Zealand is good for us and the IRFU Strategic Planning Group duly concluded in 2003 that overseas players were not only desired but also necessary.

"At present we are only able to sustain our present levels of activity in the professional game by importing players with implications in terms of cost and also the potential to create positional difficulties, which could affect us at national level," it stated.

Then the statistics were stark, and they haven't changed much since. Ireland had four professional teams from an adult playing population of 15,700; Australia had three professional teams (now four) from 46,000 adult players; England, with 174,000 players, had 14 professional sides; New Zealand, with a playing population of 44,000, had just five professional teams.

Other issues exacerbate the Irish numbers problem, like the traditional 25 per cent rolling injury/unavailability list.

"We can't afford to have any impediment in the provincial system," says Wigglesworth. "It is very important for us to safeguard the interests of the national team and to maximise the Irishness of provincial teams.

"Yes, there is a very definite policy. We control (matters) as we see serves the best interests of rugby in Ireland. In essence the Irish game does not produce enough players to serve and fill four provincial entities."

People will continue to snipe whenever an "import" fails to impress for an Irish province, but the dissemination of experience is one thing that can never be precisely measured.