KEY POINTS:
A group of All Blacks arrived in Auckland yesterday after their sensational winning tour and straight into the debate over a stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The dozen or so travel-weary players touched down at Auckland International Airport yesterday from their successful tour of the United Kingdom and France to a waiting media scrum and autograph hunters.
The bulk of them will now have a rest before preparing for 2007 and the Rugby World Cup in France. The clean sweep through Great Britain and France this month and an apparent tight-knit bond off the field strongly suggests that the bulk of those who arrive home on Tuesday can keep brushing up on their French.
>>See the best pictures from the tour
Despite the intense local debate surrounding the recent decision to upgrade Eden Park over building a proposed waterfront stadium, former All Black captain Rueben Thorne, halfback Piri Weepu and hooker Andrew Hore all tried to dodge the other big rugby question - a stadium for 2011.
Cantabrian Thorne laughed when asked where his preferred choice of stadium would be.
"I don't want to go into that but it would have been great to see a world-class stadium built on the waterfront," he said.
"But obviously there are other considerations as well so you've got to think of all of those," he said.
Hore, the Hurricanes hooker who was sinbinned in the test against Wales on Sunday, said he was looking forward to spending time on his Central Otago farm.
He felt there were alternative options to both Eden Park and the Waterfront stadium.
"I havent had too much time to think about it really but the Cake Tin (Westpac Trust stadium in Wellington) or Yarrow stadium in Taranaki would do me at the moment," he said.
All Black halfback Piri Weepu, who hails from pro-waterfront stadium minister Trevor Mallard's Wainuiomata electorate, shrugged over where his choice would be.
"I wouldn't have a clue," he said.
The players said they were looking forward to the extended rest and reconditioning window which will see them miss the first seven weeks of next year's Super 14 competition in the lead-up to next year's Rugby World Cup in France.
