Conrad Smith and other experienced All Blacks are in line for sabbaticals as the New Zealand Rugby Union turns its attention to the next World Cup.
The huge responsibility of defending New Zealand's title in England and Wales in 2015 is not being underestimated by the NZRU, which has acknowledged, particularly after the disappointing end to the recent Northern Hemisphere tour, that the top players must be looked after as the International Rugby Board fails to get to grips with a global season.
Veteran centre Smith was one of several All Blacks to express a desire for a well-earned break in the week leading up to the humiliating 38-21 defeat by England at Twickenham and the Hurricanes skipper could miss at least part of the Super rugby season in 2014. NZRU chief executive Steve Tew used the 31-year-old as an example when talking about how his organisation was living up to its promise of protecting its players against burnout.
Last week's board meeting also discussed how many tests the All Blacks are playing next year, the inference being there will be fewer than the 14 played in 2012.
"Our top players are always going to be under the most pressure because by definition they are the players that end up playing the most pressurised games," Tew said. "It's hard to get away from that but there's no doubt that we are concerned about how we manage our players' careers. I think without wanting to tempt fate or blow our own trumpet we have done a pretty good job being flexible in the last four or five years. We are seeing a lot of very experienced players still playing at the peak of their abilities despite the heavy workload that we've asked them to carry.
