Tew defends ABs rest plan, camps
NZ Rugby boss Steve Tew says broadcaster Sky TV has no objections to the All Blacks being withdrawn from two rounds of Super Rugby.
A deal between NZ Rugby and the five Super Rugby coaches has once again been brokered to enable the All Blacks to be rested from two round-robin matches in the Sanzaar tournament, prior to the three-test series against France in June.
For Sky this means having to screen games without star New Zealand players, potentially proving to be a turn-off for their subscribers who wish to see teams field their best XV every week.
Tew said Sky chief executive John Fellet had not raised any objections.
‘‘Sky are always very positive. And supportive of what is good for us is good for Sky – I think that is the way John phrases it. We will work collaboratively with Sky.’’
All of the Super Rugby coaches have no doubt already scrutinised the competition draw and blocked out the weekends when they believe they can rest their All Blacks, but they may also have to make sure this plan is fluid because injuries and the need to chase competition points could force them back to the drawing board.
Any decision about when the All Blacks are rested is at the discretion of the Super Rugby coaches, and Tew said nothing had changed from previous years.
‘‘The reality is, I think everyone understands, that our elite players cannot play every game from February to the end of November,’’ Tew added.
‘‘It is just not physically possible. And I think the vast majority of Super Rugby coaches also understand that even if they weren’t All Blacks they can’t play for the entire campaign.
‘‘If they are going to make the playoffs they have to have an opportunity to re-charge mentally and physically, or they cannot be at their best when it comes to the crunch.’’
Super Rugby teams are also going to have to relinquish their players for All Blacks camps. There will be one-day camps for South Island players in Christchurch on March 12 and April 16.
North Island players will attend camps in Auckland on March 20 and April 23.
Two three-day camps will held on May 20-22 and May 27-29, in Auckland and Christchurch, respectively.
For obvious reasons the Super Rugby clubs have not welcomed the concept, and Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd expressed disappointment that the five coaches from each team were not able to sit in the room with representatives from NZ Rugby and discuss the camps.
Allowing the All Blacks to attend the three-day camps was seen as a necessary evil, but adding on the one-day camps to the programme was certainly not popular.
There have also been criticisms – both on and off the record – about the way NZ Rugby communicated with the Super Rugby clubs, but Tew said he was satisfied with the way it was handled.
‘‘They [the camps] are driven by the fact that our players and clubs wanted to start later than the South Africans did, and because of the calendar, which comes right in 2020, we don’t have any time for the All Blacks to prepare for a test series against France,’’ Tew said.
‘‘I think quite logically, but not ideal for anybody, we have said we need the All Blacks coaches to have some face-time with the players before we start a test series against a country that our fans, and ourselves, expect us to be competitive against.’’
From 2021 there is the opportunity to redefine what Super Rugby looks like. The current broadcast deal expires in 2020.