Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has thrown his support behind an increase of player sabbaticals, after Len Ikitau's own overseas stint was confirmed and several other frontline Test players consider following suit.
Brumbies star Ikitau will join Exeter on a nine-month sabbatical later this year, but he will be available for the three Tests that fall inside World Rugby's Test window during Australia's spring tour.
While he will miss the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season, in what is a huge blow for the ACT franchise, Ikitau will then return to the Wallabies in time for the July Test series, which will double as the opening games of the Nations Championship, before the Rugby Championship follows thereafter.
"Well, disappointing for us, we lose him for Super Rugby, and he's one of our standout players, he's obviously been a Wallaby who played exceptionally well on the spring tour last year and someone that we pick in our starting XV every week. So he'll be a big loss for the team next year," Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said on Wednesday.
"But it gives someone else an opportunity and we've got a lot of centres coming through the pathways, you've seen that over a couple of years. We've got a number of centres in our squad at the moment who have been doing exceptionally well.
"I think it's great news for Lenny to get over there and experience a different competition and some different coaching, a different way of preparing for games and more games as well, the competition over there is a little bit longer as well.
"I think it will be great for his development. And then hopefully he is coming back in July next year and he gets into the Wallabies, then he's back into the Brumbies '27/'28."
Given the demand for quality players, of which Ikitau is one, overseas, his longer-term retention is seen as a win for Rugby Australia and the Wallabies; outgoing Joe Schmidt has been firm in his belief that his preference is to pick from Australia, a desire his replacement is likely to mirror.
But with the global player market as hot as ever, and the chance to sample a different lifestyle overseas an obvious attraction, Hooper believes RA should be open to further deals like Ikitau's, with the benefits going both ways.
"The first is that type of player who has played a lot of minutes who is, not rusted on, but has been around, like a Bobby Valetini, is someone who would really benefit," Hooper told the Inside Line podcast.
"The caveat to that is being in a good program ... good coaching, around good players and a different experience. Somewhere where they are not going to play 50 games in a season, and that's the benefit of a sabbatical, and Japan fits the bill well."
Hooper completed his own sabbatical in 2021 when he travelled to Japan and played under former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen at Toyota Verblitz. Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read was a teammate of Hooper's in Japan, before the veteran flanker returned to Australia and later won a fourth John Eales Medal as the Wallabies best player, bucking any suggestion his play had deteriorated because of a stint in the Top League. Hooper has since returned to Japan this year, answering an injury-SOS from Toyota.
While Hooper was 29 when he first left for Japan, and had seven years of Test rugby behind him, there has been an increasing trend of players heading offshore at an earlier age; the loss of rising Reds stars Isaac Lucas and Harry Hockings in 2020 still stings Australian rugby, with both men set to be eligible for Japan within the next 12 months.
Hooper added that Australian rugby might consider loan deals with overseas clubs, in either Europe or Japan, where younger players could also get the on- and off-field benefits of such an arrangement without them being completely lost to the game at home.
"Can our Super Rugby clubs be loaning players out to different clubs around the world?" Hooper said.
"At the start [of a career], you get exposure to a different culture, you get out of Mum and Dad's home, which is a positive thing sometimes, you have exposure to different ways and approaches. Up here [Japan] we have Steve Hansen and Ian Foster, so you get some New Zealand perspective... it's so beneficial for a player early on in their career. RA should be open to it and should start developing and nourishing these relationships."
While Ikitau's longer-term retention is seen as a win, he is a huge loss both for the Brumbies and the broader appeal of Super Rugby Pacific. If fellow Wallabies, Angus Bell, Fraser McReight, Tom Wright and Taniela Tupou were to opt for a similar deal, as has been reported, SRP's value as a television product loses some of its lustre just at the time RA is preparing to sign off on a broadcast extension with Stan Sport and the Nine Network.
But with the goal to have the bulk of that group and the broader Wallabies' cohort based in Australia for the run to the 2027 World Cup, SRP may just have to take a hit in the meantime.