French test to be a tough examination

The All Blacks will treat next year's end-of-season tour to France and Wales as if it is a World Cup.

Head coach Graham Henry said he will take 30 players on the 2006 trip and is likely to base the team at the same venue they will use for the majority of the 2007 tournament also in France.

The All Blacks will next year play two tests in France before travelling to Cardiff for a one-off fixture against Wales. Henry is expecting to play the first test in Marseilles and the second in Paris.

Helping the All Blacks simulate a World Cup intensity on tour next season will be the fact their opening game in 2007, against an as-yet-undecided European qualifier, will be in Marseilles on September 8.

With the next three pool games to be played in Lyon, Edinburgh and Toulouse, it is thought likely the All Blacks will themselves base near Marseilles and only travel to their match-day destinations 48 hours before playing.

Assuming they top their group - they have been drawn with Scotland and three undecided qualifiers - they will play their quarter-final in Cardiff.

Playing two tough tests in France before another stiff challenge in Cardiff next year is very close to what the All Blacks will have to face at the World Cup.

The challenge won't just be for the players, though. The selectors, too, will have to get used to picking teams for consecutive games with a reduced pool of players - 30 instead of the current 35 - to choose from.

Unlike this current tour, where the theme is development, next season the coaches will view the three consecutive tests in November as the ideal opportunity to expose the players to the intensity they will face 10 months later at the World Cup.

The squad will be trimmed from 35 down to 30, as that is the number the All Blacks will be allowed to take to the World Cup.

"We sat down about six months ago and planned out the next two-and-a-half years," said Henry.

"As we get closer to the World Cup, we will reduce the numbers. We will use that as a prelude to the World Cup and try and simulate what we are going to do at World Cup time on that tour. Hopefully we will stay in the same places and use the same facilities as we will for World Cup.

"We prioritised the campaigns and tours we were involved in and have set targets for each one of those. One of the targets for this trip was to develop two teams across the pitch and I think we are achieving that.

"We will continue to try and develop New Zealand rugby. But we will only take 30 next year and you'd hope that all those 30 will have a major influence on how we play and get plenty of game time.

"We probably need to take three halfbacks and three hookers which means you won't have three players in each position. You have to have players with utility value."

When Henry said he will probably take three halfbacks and three hookers, it's reasonably certain that means he will definitely take three in both specialist berths.

Once that is factored into the equation, it becomes apparent that some seriously good players will be left out of both next season's end-of-year tour and the final World Cup party.

There may, for instance, be no room to accommodate all of Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Doug Howlett and Rico Gear.

As crazy as that may be, it has to be remembered that Henry will stick with his belief that players are stretched well beyond their limits if asked to get through three consecutive tests.

"I think we proved during the Lions series that guys playing three on the trot is almost impossible," said Henry. "I can't remember the exact details but I think we had about half-a-dozen guys who didn't play in the final test who had played in the first two.

"I think that shows that it is not possible, so the ideal situation is not to play anybody in more than two tests in a row."

Three specialist wings could be rotated throughout the tournament without having to play more than two in a row. The danger of selecting all four is that it will leave the All Blacks light on cover elsewhere.

As Mils Muliana can cover wing, one of Rokocoko, Howlett, Sivivatu or Gear may be excluded to make way for a player such as Isaia Toe'ava, who can cover 10 through to 15.

Henry and his selectors clearly hold the uncapped Toe'ava in high regard, with their opinion enhanced by what they've seen of the 19-year-old on this tour so far.

While Henry expects the majority of next season's tour party to be drawn from players already capped, he said it's possible a young bolter could force his way into the frame.

"I think there is always the possibility that some guys will come through the under-21s or whatever. Toe'ava hasn't played yet on this tour but we see him as a real possibility for the World Cup. He can play in most back positions and there might be some more Isaia's around."

The shift away from development on next season's tour reflects the proximity of the tournament and the importance of the World Cup to the current coaching panel.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY