All Blacks coach Ian Foster on eve of USA departure. Video / allblakcs.com
OPINION:
There's a strong likelihood that the All Blacks may end up running with two captains, possibly even three, for their European tour.
There might be no other sensible or practical way to get through the next five tests given the various match readiness and underlying conditioning of the variouscandidates.
It's also been the way of things this year, a sort of new normal almost for the captaincy to have been shared given the intensity of the scheduling and way injuries have impacted.
This merry-go-round where the captaincy has been through four players already this season isn't something with which the All Blacks will persist.
It has been forced upon them – a specific reaction to a specific and unprecedented set of circumstances that will prevail for the next five tests, but hopefully not into next year.
If there was such a thing as a normal world, it would have most likely seen coach Ian Foster's nominated skipper Sam Cane play two or three games for Bay of Plenty earlier this month.
In this world, Cane would maybe have 100 to 180 minutes of provincial rugby under his belt, ease his way back into test action this weekend against the USA and then progressively build his exposure to be in line to captain the side in the two big games against Ireland and France at the end of the tour.
But instead, due to the impact Covid has had on the NPC, Cane managed a 60-minute run with King Country as his only rugby since ripping a chest muscle back in late March.
Sam Cane in action for King Country in the Heartland Championship. Photo / Photosport
He'll probably start against the Eagles because it's easier to control his game time that way, but it's unlikely he'll be captain or in line to back up the following week against Wales.
Cane just doesn't have enough rugby in his system having only played once in the last seven months and Foster will be reluctant to ask too much, too soon.
The probable path for Cane is to play 50 minutes to 60 minutes against the USA, rest the following week and then maybe play against Italy, probably as captain and maybe for the full 80 minutes.
What happens after that will depend on how quickly Cane finds his feet at the top level again. The hard part about having such a long lay-off will be rediscovering his instincts, rebuilding his anticipation and reading of the game and finding the sharpness in his micro skill execution to be effective at that level.
Even after missing seven months and enduring surgery, Cane will have rebuilt his strength and general conditioning to pre-injury levels, but the challenge for returning players lies in rediscovering that playing sharpness – that ability to see where the game is going and get ahead of it.
That's the bit that takes time and having seen how Ardie Savea, Joe Moody and Ofa Tuungafasi this year all took at least two tests – or parts of – to get back up to speed after extended time off due to injury, Foster will have limited expectation about whether Cane will be ready to play against Ireland and France.
Sam Cane during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
Probably, it's a little ambitious to imagine Cane will have proven his readiness to be involved in the Dublin test, but maybe, he'll be in line to start the last test of the year against France and do so as captain.
Even if Cane does start against the US this weekend, the captaincy is likely to be taken by another returnee, Sam Whitelock.
He hasn't played a test since the defeat of the Wallabies in mid-August – a game in which he captained the side and delivered a superb individual performance – but he's got significantly more football in his legs than Cane and should be able to regain his match sharpness in relatively quick time.
He missed the Rugby Championship to be present for the birth of his third child but was able to squeeze in game time with Canterbury and just as significantly, train with them for much of the last two months.
Foster will likely be confident that Whitelock can captain the side against the USA and then back up against Wales in Cardiff – possibly as captain again, but perhaps not given that Savea and a group of other senior players are leaving the USA before the test in Washington to get a head start in preparing for the clash in Cardiff.
It may make more sense to ask Savea to captain the side against Wales, Cane to take over for the test against Italy the following week and then for Whitelock to resume against Ireland before assessing the situation for the test in Paris.
Five tests and three captains - this is how things are in the Covid-impacted world.
