Tasman have ruled out a provincial rugby return for former All Black Liam Squire, due to financial reasons.
Squire, 29, said goodbye to New Zealand rugby at the end of 2019, linking up with Japanese club side NTT Docomo Hurricanes.
With Covid-19 having stopped Japan's Top League, Squire is one of the many Kiwis to have returned to New Zealand to wait out the global pandemic.
Naturally, with the likes of Nehe Milner-Skudder and Sam Whitelock among those to commit to playing the rest of the 2020 season on home soil, the window is open for players like Squire to return to either the Mitre 10 Cup, or the new Super Rugby Aotearoa.
However, with Squire's Japanese deal running through until the end of 2021, Tasman concede that they wouldn't be able to afford the insurance premium needed to secure the 23-Test All Black's signature.
"The one thing I do know, as much as the media and public speculates, is that the sheer cost of insuring Liam's participation in the Mitre 10 Cup in case of injury would make it absolutely impossible for Tasman to afford,'' Tasman CEO Tony Lewis told Stuff.
Lewis wouldn't reveal the exact figure needed as Squire's insurance, but did say that it was in the "tens of thousands."
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