All Blacks: Paris date adds to NZRU dilemma

As happened in 2009, the All Blacks could play a Barbarians team on the end of year tour. Photo / Getty Images

The French Barbarians could be added to the All Blacks' end of year tour itinerary in a move that will spark tensions between the players and their employer.

The make-up of this year's tour is proving a massive headache for the New Zealand Rugby Union who are trying to build a trip that satisfies their twin objectives of giving the All Blacks a tough but not overbearing schedule and generating revenue.

The importance of the tour as World Cup preparation can't be exaggerated. There will be no June tests in 2011 and a truncated Tri Nations will see the All Blacks play just four tests ahead of the tournament.

The November tour this year is hugely significant. It will be a tour where the coaches move some way towards finalising their likely 30-man squad for the World Cup. It is where they will form playing strategies and an off-field culture that will be used at the World Cup.

But it's also critical that the tour is not too demanding, that it doesn't take too much out of the players. That's the source of the current angst.

The NZRU are determined to play a fourth Bledisloe Cup game in Hong Kong or Tokyo on October 30. Previous tests in Asia have been lucrative - earning the national body between $2 million and $4 million. Those sorts of sums can make a big difference to the overall accounts.

"We are still in an environment where revenue is critical," says NZRU chief executive Steve Tew. "Playing extra games has big revenue implications to consider."

The choice for the NZRU is how much are they prepared to chase revenue against the other requirement of protecting the players against a brutal schedule.

If they lock in a Bledisloe test at the end of October, they need an opponent for November 6. The IRB rotation has them playing Scotland, Ireland and Wales on November 13, 20 and 27. A test against England has been pencilled in for December 4 but the NZRU have asked for that game to be played on November 6.

"We have asked England to move that game," says Tew, "and we are hoping to hear back soon. That requires the RFU to consult with the clubs. If that game can't be moved, then we have some alternative plans for the front end of the tour. They [French Barbarians] are one option but we have others as well."

A game in Paris against the French Barbarians on November 6 would net the NZRU an estimated $3 million. That's the preferred option if the England test cannot be shifted.

The dilemma will be whether to make the Barbarians clash instead of, or as well as, playing England. If the All Blacks were to take on England on December 4, the NZRU would pocket another $3 million, meaning they could earn as much as $10 million from the tour. It would also give them a Grand Slam itinerary.

The downside would be playing six games in six weeks and not returning home until mid-December.

"We are not prepared to play extra games at any price," says Tew. "We are mindful of all the implications and the need to look after the players and have consulted a lot of people about our plans."

Next month's board meeting should progress the issue further with the coaches expected to set out their tour objectives. This will include the number of players they would like to take and the key goals they hope to achieve, other than winning every game.

Tew says the indications at this stage are the selectors want to take a smaller group than in previous years and treat it as dry-run for the World Cup.