ABS coach makes plea for unity
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen had just been honoured for his leadership, so it was apt he chose his words wisely in dealing with the controversial topic of his mooted four training camps to be staged during the Super Rugby season.
Details are yet to be unveiled, but it has been widely speculated that the camps will take the form of two one-day gatherings, and two three-day affairs, with the hope that they will provide as little disruption as possible.
Already Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd has voiced his concern that the All Blacks coaches are to impinge so visibly on Super Rugby, and there have been murmurings of discontent from other franchises. It’s the first time since 2007 there has been this level of disruption.
But Hansen described the intended camps as a necessary evil prior to the three-test June series against France and called on all in New Zealand rugby to get on board with a plan that had already been well talked through.
‘‘I don’t want to be plucking players out of Super Rugby, that’s the first thing,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘Unfortunately with the way the season is structured you’ve got to have some preparation to play an international team of the standard of France. If you don’t have that you run the risk of underperforming, and the expectation is we win.
‘‘It’s not an ideal situation for Super teams, we know that. It’s not ideal for the players, and it’s certainly not an ideal situation for us not having any preparation time.
‘‘We went through a process where a lot of people were spoken to ... and we’ve come to an agreement on what we’ve got. We’re supportive of each other hopefully. I know there’s been a lot of talk in the media about it, but we have to adapt and adjust to what we can do.
‘‘Let’s just get on with it and work together and do the right thing by our players.’’
Hansen also admitted to ‘‘concern’’ around the ongoing loss of second-tier All Blacks to contracts offshore, but felt New Zealand Rugby continued to fight the good fight on that front.
‘‘We’re very fortunate to have a talented pool of people, but the downside of that is everyone else wants to come in and buy them.
‘‘The French market and English market have got plenty of money, Japan have also got plenty, and the old adage is if we want to develop one, we have to develop four: one for us, and one for each of those other three environments.
‘‘It hasn’t got to the point where it’s disastrous. The contracting people are doing a magnificent job, the Rugby Union support us magnificently, and the people themselves have a massive desire to keep wanting to pull on that black jersey.’’
Hansen, recently back from a fact-finding trip to Japan, said plans were well advanced around this year’s programme, particularly the tricky transition from two tests in Japan to those muchanticipated November clashes against England and Ireland.
‘‘We’ve given a lot of thought to this year.’’