Former New Zealand Test lock Chris Jack has poked fun at the standard of European club rugby, calling it ”easy”.
Jack, who has spent the last two seasons with English club Saracens, said he was returning home to New Zealand because he wanted to play a higher level of rugby.
”I’m not going back just to muck around. If I wanted to muck around I would have stayed up there,” he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
”I want to come back and I want to play well. If I wanted to play easy rugby I would have stayed up in the northern hemisphere.”
Jack, who is in Sydney preparing to play for the Barbarians against Australia this weekend, said he hoped his return to New Zealand would rekindle his international career.
The 30-year-old last played for the All Blacks at the 2007 World Cup in France but is eyeing a return to the Test arena for the 2011 World Cup, to be held in New Zealand.
”I want to play good rugby again. I want to play challenging rugby and I want to enjoy it,” he said. ”The [English] premiership gets a bit tough after a while of the same sort of stuff. It’s good to play some rugby that’s enjoyable.” — Reuters