Tew to demand Super ‘update’ Hansen slaps down Gatland
New Zealand Rugby have officially confirmed the All Blacks’ November tour opener against the Barbarians at Twickenham, though the future shape of Super Rugby remains a less certain proposition.
NZR chief executive Steve Tew was pleased to have final confirmation of the Baabaas fixture on November 4 before he departs today for important World Rugby and Sanzaar meetings in Japan.
Among a series of sitdowns in Kyoto, where the World Cup pool draw would take place on Wednesday, Tew hopes to receive a detailed update on where his Australian and South African counterparts have got to with their already agreed decision to reduce Super Rugby by three teams for next year and beyond.
That will see one Australian and two South African sides drop out of the competition, though neither national union has provided any detail yet around who those teams may be.
Already in Australia there has been the threat of legal action from the Force and Rebels franchises identified as being the contenders for axing, and earlier this week the ARU’s chief operating office Rob Clarke resigned suddenly, further clouding the issue of just who would drop out of the competition.
In South Africa the Super Rugby remake is also a political hot potato.
‘‘It is in their hands, but at the very least we’ll be looking for a very firm update,’’ Tew told the Star-Times.
Asked whether Australia’s Steve Hansen has two messages; one for the nervy New Zealand public to take a chill pill about the All Blacks’ mounting injury toll, another for British and Irish Lions counterpart Warren Gatland to keep his nose out.
Lions coach Warren Gatland could not help having a dig this week, suggesting the All Blacks would be worried about a list of unavailable stars and their potential lack of game-time leading into the first test.’’That will be a bit of a concern for them,’’ Gatland said.
Hansen laughed off Gatland’s pre-tour comments but also fired back.
‘‘Gatland likes playing mind games with his players and it looks like he wants to start to try and play them with us,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘I don’t find playing mind games with your players is a great idea, especially our guys as they are way too smart to fall for that stuff.’’
While many in the rugby community watch on with rising anxiety levels as Blacks continue to ward, Hansen of calm.
All Blacks captain Kieran Read, deputy Ben Smith, Jerome Kaino, Dane Coles, Liam Squire, first fiveeighth Lima Sopoaga and outside backs Israel Dagg and Nehe MilnerSkudder front-line All join the causality remains a picture action.
Of most concern is world-class Hurricanes hooker Coles, not only battling a lingering calf complaint but also the more concerning concussion issue. Senior loose forwards Read, with broken thumb, and Kaino, after a are among those out of Reado and JK should both be OK if everything goes right. minor knee surgery, are locked in a race against time to be fit for the first test against the Lions at Eden Park on June 24, as is Squire (also with a broken thumb).
Other than Milner-Skudder, the remainder of the injured crew are expected to return for their respective Super Rugby teams in the coming weeks.
‘‘You always have concerns but at the same time you can’t control that,’’ Hansen said. ’’All you can do is work away at getting as much information as you can around them and help the players work on their rehab to get better.
‘‘We’re sitting in a situation where Reado and JK should both be OK if everything goes right and Coles with his injury now it’s got the concussion side to it you’ve just got to be patient and wait. You can’t force that.
‘‘If you’re honest you know you’re going to get injuries and we’ll get more of them - as will they because they’ve got guys playing too.
‘‘You have to deal with each situation as it comes along but we don’t name the team until June 8 so there’s no point panicking.’’
Hansen is confident Read and Kaino should be in contention to play the warm-up test against Samoa in Auckland, one week before the opening Lions assignment.
‘‘Game time will be what it is but all going well we will be looking to give them some time against Samoa and we have complete faith in [All Blacks trainer] Nic Gill to have them in great condition.
‘‘It’s better to have them fresh rather than at the end of a long season.’’
One of Hansen’s strengths since assuming the All Blacks top job in 2012 has been future-proofing the team, and always integrating new talent.
Behind Coles lurk test-ready hookers Codie Taylor, Nathan Harris and Liam Coltman, and Hansen is also comfortable with his cover at No 8.
‘‘We’ve been working on that for a long time. It’s an on-going process where you try and have enough depth to cover people when they do get injured because it’s a physical game.
‘‘You’ve got the guys that have been there before like [Elliot] Dixon, [Steven] Luatua .... [Brad] Shields is playing well just to name a few. There’s a lot of guys putting their hands up.
‘‘Some you can say ‘yes they can handle the step up’ because they’ve shown they can and then there’s others that would be brand new to it. As we go a bit further into the competition we’ll see what their strengths are like.
‘‘But we’re not panicking because we think Reado should be right.’’