Richie Mo'unga blocked by NZ Rugby for Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Tour

That is according to Steve Lancaster, who was recently appointed as the governing body's CEO. In his biggest statement since taking the role full-time, Lancaster is adamant that NZR will remain firm on their overseas policy.

Mo'unga will return from Japan ahead of the Nations Championship but, in accordance with New Zealand Rugby's current laws, he is not eligible until the Bledisloe Cup Tests with the  Wallabies.

That is at odds with new head coach Dave Rennie's desire, who, unsurprisingly, wants his best players available, but they are not changing their stance.

"This is something we regularly revisit with the board," Lancaster told Newstalk ZB.

"It's a relevant thing for our board as governors of the game to regularly consider and reflect on.

"We haven't asked the board to relax that policy around Richie. We think the policy works for us. It keeps our best players in New Zealand playing in our competitions.

"We've got some world-class players in the same position, and a number of those have committed to stay in New Zealand and play on the basis of the policy. We've got to think about the implications of the policy and relaxing the policy at any point in time."

NZR stipulate that Mo'unga must first play for Canterbury in the NPC before being eligible for All Blacks selection in October.

There is one way the playmaker can feature against the Springboks and that is if there are injuries, but Rennie currently has three excellent options to choose from in Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie and Ruben Love.

"Once Richie's back in New Zealand and playing and if we do have injuries, then potentially he could be eligible," Lancaster said.

Rennie's predecessor, Scott Robertson, urged NZR to keep an "open mind" when it came to their overseas policy and the new All Blacks boss has already restarted that debate.

Brodie Retallick, who currently plays in Japan, was namechecked by the 62-year-old, while Mo'unga is another player he would like available, but Lancaster insists that it is not causing internal problems.

"Dave's very clear, he would like Richie to be available for selection because his job is to ultimately win the World Cup next year and he wants the best talent available to the All Blacks," the CEO added.

"That's a really healthy tension for us to have, where we've got a coach who rightly has a focus on winning today and tomorrow, and then we've got ourselves as the administrators of the game who have to have a systems lens and a medium to long-term lens on what's best for the game."