ABs happy to play earlier

AUCKLAND: The All Blacks have committed to leave New Zealand five days after the second Bledisloe Cup test this month, with coach Ian Foster floating the prospect of playing the opening Rugby Championship test one week early to avoid the team having to quarantine through Christmas on their return home.

Foster said with the New South Wales government yesterday scrapping quarantine requirements for Kiwis from October 16, the team would be happy to play the opening Rugby Championship test one week after arriving in Australia.

‘‘We’re really conscious there’s been lots of variables at play with the draw and now we’ve established the certainty our second Bled will be on Sunday the 18th. We will then be flying out the following Friday on the 23rd and preparing to play the first game of the Rugby Championship in Australia on November 7,’’ Foster said as the All Blacks finished a weeklong camp in Hamilton ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington next weekend.

‘‘But with the quarantine news there’s no reason we couldn’t play a week before that.’’

Foster said no players had indicated they would not join the team in Australia, though some might opt to arrive late depending on the arrival of imminent babies. Those players with babies due in the coming weeks included Ardie Savea,