Philpott hopes to have Barrett
NEW under-20s coach Craig Philpott is under no illusions what he is up against as he plots the Baby Blacks’ campaign for 2017.
‘‘If you look at the results over the past three or four years England in particular have stepped up and become quite dominant,’’ said Hawkes Bay coach Philpott. ‘‘A big part of that is they’ve got a full-time programme.’’
That involves full-time coaches, strength and conditioners and those players turning out for English Premiership teams being centrally linked to the 20s programme.
‘‘They treat it in some cases as a two or three year plan,’’ Philpott explains. ‘‘Their planning is well ahead of everybody else and the resources they’re putting into it are huge.
‘‘I really noticed it up close for the first time at the tournament in Manchester this year just the physical difference in the players who are the same age but been in the programme for a couple of years. It was quite different from ours. They looked like a senior national men’s team; big strong men, particularly up front. That suits the type of game the European teams play as well.’’
Conditions at this year’s event caught the Kiwis by surprise with heavy rain favouring the European teams who were happy to back their set-piece strength.
Next year’s tournament in Georgia is expected to be played in 28 degrees on hard pitches.
Selection remains a difficult juggling act. Players develop at different rates both from a physical and skill perspective depending on their genes and exposure to high performance training environments.
The other challenge Philpott faces is what access he has to Super Rugby players, the likes of 19-year-old All Blacks apprentice Jordie Barrett.
That dynamic is complicated further next year with the British and Irish Lions playing all five NZ Super teams.
‘‘The bottom line is Super Rugby has precedence, and always has. It comes down to how good our negotiating skills are with the coaches about who is available and who isn’t and a little bit around the timing.’’
In the case of Barrett, the door remains slightly ajar. The Hurricanes don’t play the Lions until June 27, with the Blues the first Super Rugby team to face the visitors on June 7.
The under-20s tournament runs from May 25 to June 18.
‘‘If Jordie decided he wanted to be involved in both there is the chance for both those things to occur but Stephen Perofeta at the Blues, Tana [Umaga] might decide he needs to be there. Those are conversations we have in the lead up to the tournament.’’