All Blacks back in numbers for provinces

Lock Chris Jack will turn out for Tasman against Auckland at Eden Park. Ross Land / Getty Images

Expect a flotilla of All Blacks to be running out in provincial colours in this week's second round of the national championship.

Before Saturday night's victory over Australia, only five All Blacks were flagged to sit out this weekend's Air New Zealand Cup round - Wellington No 8 Rodney So'oialo, Waikato utility back Mils Muliaina and Canterbury trio Leon MacDonald, Dan Carter and All Black captain Richie McCaw.

But two more have counted themselves out - Tasman wing Rico Gear and Waikato halfback Byron Kelleher.

Newcomers Tasman, who play Auckland at Eden Park on Sunday, have two All Blacks on their books.

Lock Chris Jack has told union officials he's "keen as mustard" to be at Eden Park. However, wing Gear has told the union he has an ankle strain and is unavailable.

Waikato coach Warren Gatland was told last week that although Muliaina would be stood down, the All Black coaching staff wanted Kelleher to play against Southland on Saturday.

The goalposts shifted at the start of this week, when a Waikato coaching staff member received a message from an All Black counterpart that Kelleher was in Christchurch for a couple of weeks and was unavailable.

Gatland spoke to All Black coach Graham Henry on Monday night and was told Kelleher had taken a pounding in the test.

"I haven't heard from Byron," Gatland said last night.

"My point of view is if Byron desperately wanted to be there we'd accommodate him. If he's a bit tired, that's another issue.

"We weren't expecting to have him anyway to start with. If you have him it's a bonus, if you haven't it's something you'd already planned for."

Gatland said the difficult aspects for a test player returning to a different setup after time away were motivation and learning new calls in a short period.

"Sometimes it can upset your whole rhythm in a team," Gatland added.

The good news for Gatland is that former test wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, who rolled an ankle in the big win over Bay of Plenty in their non-championship match in Hamilton last weekend, should be fit for the trip to Invercargill.

The availability of so many test players should help allay concerns which surfaced last year that All Blacks had too much time away from the game in between their international commitments or were over-trained and match rusty. The next All Black test is at Eden Park against the Wallabies on August 19.

Northland, who might have hoped to tackle a depowered Canterbury outfit in Whangarei on Saturday, will instead see forwards Greg Somerville and Reuben Thorne, with second five-eighth Aaron Mauger and wing Scott Hamilton running out in red and black.

Auckland coach Pat Lam can call on All Black wings Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko, utility back Isaia Toeava, hooker Keven Mealamu and lock Ali Williams - and has captain Sam Tuitupou fit again after missing the opening cup game in Palmerston North with a hamstring strain.

Two backs from the 41-10 win over Manawatu are out of contention. Centre Jamie Helleur has a gashed mouth, and first five-eighth Tasesa Lavea strained a hamstring.