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The New Zealand Rugby Union has voiced its growing unhappiness with the Irish Rugby Football Union's apparent complicity in the All Black player drain.
All Black prop John Afoa and Blues midfielder Jared Payne recently signed for Ulster in deals reported to be worth over NZ$750,000 (£367,000) while Crusaders' fly-half Matt Berquist is off to Leinster.
Hurricanes and All Blacks full-back Cory Jane and Blues' centre Benson Stanley have also been linked to big-money moves to Irish provinces.
Irish administrators have in the past shared their concerns with their Kiwi counterparts over French clubs luring players abroad with inflated salaries but are now being accused pilfering New Zealand's resources, despite the current financial crisis in Ireland.
"The disappointing thing is that if the numbers we are led to believe that have been put on the table by Ulster, and therefore the Irish Rugby Union, are accurate, it is a shame," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew told the New Zealand Herald.
Read more: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...882391,00.html