All Blacks: Rush-job on Luke exposes OE failings

Those players looking to return to New Zealand from Europe will find their progress to the All Blacks may not be as swift as they would like.

It has become clear to the All Black coaching panel - through their time in England and in seeing the progress of Luke McAlister - that it's a difficult business assimilating players to the pace and skill level of New Zealand rugby.

They kind of knew that anyway, but the return this year of McAlister from Sale has given them their first case study. McAlister, who arrived home in June, has not sparked yet; he hasn't looked remotely the player he was in 2007 before he joined the Manchester club.

The picture has been clouded by injury - McAlister missed March and April because of a knee injury and lacked game fitness and sharpness when he came home. The selectors hoped he would be able to gain some of that by playing for the Barbarians, the Junior All Blacks and then North Harbour.

The initial plan was to run him into form through those teams and if he was playing well enough, bring him into the All Blacks.

As it happened, he was called into the All Blacks for the June series after Richard Kahui pulled out and McAlister was asked to find his form, playing out of position, for the All Blacks. The fact the 25-year-old struggled was ammunition for those who believe there is a damaging gulf between the respective skill levels of the Guinness Premiership and Super 14.

In seeing McAlister so out of his depth there was an argument to be made that 2 years had done more than temporarily reduce his capacity to step past people and see the space. It had the look of a permanent loss.

But assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith is confident McAlister is finally returning to the player he once was and that assimilation from European rugby to New Zealand rugby is not necessarily as hard as it was made to look.

"My gut feel is that it is not as hard as everyone thinks," says Smith. "We have a particular case with Luke. He got rushed back in a situation that was not ideal. We probably regret having done that now.

"He's coming good again. He needs football and I think you'll find in time he returns to being the player he was. He might even be better."

That last part is wishful thinking. The overseas experience is not one that prepares players for the speed and skill levels of rugby in the southern hemisphere. That's particularly true for backs.

Most teams in the UK still build their game plan around dominating the set-piece battle, winning territory and gaining parity at the collision. The forwards are programmed to look for contact rather than space, while the backs tend not to be given the same level of opportunity.

As Graham Henry said before McAlister's return: "I think it will be good for him as an individual and when he returns to these islands he'll be a well-rounded person, but I don't know if he's going to be a better rugby player.

"Maybe those experiences of playing in those countries will help, but whether it's going to help his rugby development, I'm not sure."

There are several players currently in the UK, such as Aaron Mauger, Sam Tuitupou, Greg Rawlinson and Carl Hayman, who are pondering returns to New Zealand in the next nine months. These players still have plenty of miles on the clock. It's unlikely now - especially in the case of Mauger and Tuitupou - that there will be a fast-track to the test team.

These players will have to prove they can still cope with the different demands of Super 14. That won't be taken for granted - the All Black selectors will be wary now of rushing any returning players from overseas. Time in the UK does not advance the individual in respect of their skill base.

This knowledge may well throw a spanner into the works for some players. The concept of effectively taking on a European sabbatical - a two-year stint in the northern hemisphere at a relatively young age - has grown in popularity.

The likes of Troy Flavell and Leon MacDonald have shown it's possible to leave and then resume an All Black career. But they might be the exceptions and some players planning an overseas jaunt may now have to assess how easy it will be for them to resume their careers when they return.

If Mauger and Tuitupou return in June next year, then it will be to the provincial championship first. That pathway will become the norm - an almost mandatory rehab programme.