Coach Graham Henry is quite sure that players in his current All Blacks squad won’t be fit enough to take on the end of year tour.
His thoughts crystalised by the tired performance of England in last weekend’s first test at Dunedin, Henry said there would need to be an allowance for burnout when the selectors sit down to name a squad for four matches in Europe starting on November 13.
New Zealand’s tour, featuring tests against Italy, Wales and France, stretches into early December, when they face a Barbarians team at Twickenham.
Henry has had little time to think about the tour as he plots a 2-0 clean sweep of the English at Eden Park on Saturday.
However, he said it was apparent there would be players in need of a break following either the Tri-Nations test series finishing in August or the end of the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in October.
”The selection of that team at the end of the year will be judged on who can tour, and let’s get the best team together from those who can tour,” Henry said.
”There will be some fellows who have played rugby during this part of the year who probably will not go because it will be counter-productive to take them.”
The All Blacks’ last tour to Europe, in 2002, broke new ground when coach John Mitchell selected virtually a new squad of players to that used in the Tri-Nations. Most of his Canterbury players of that year were left at home, citing either injury or fatigue.
The International Rugby Board are considering the merits of a global season. Henry said it couldn’t come soon enough if the unfair nature of tours was to be removed.
”Every time we go to the Northern Hemisphere or sides come here, it’s at the end of the season,” he said.
”It has a significant effect on how those teams play. Particularly this time with the English, they’ve been playing for a bloody long time, I don’t know when they last had a break.
”It obviously has its toll. Until you have a global competition where you marry the two competitions together, so you’re all reasonably in good shape, there’s always that disadvantage.”
Henry suspected the British and Irish Lions who tour New Zealand at the same time next year would be far better prepared. He said plans were in place for the Lions players to have a break after the Six Nations championship.
”The four home nations have agreed to that with the clubs over there, that there is going to be a revitalisation, which is a pity,” he smiled.
Last weekend Southern Hemisphere teams New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina had respective wins over England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Henry agreed with comments earlier this week from South Africa coach Jake White that the southern clean sweep had more to do with timing than any shift of world power. — Sapa