Wynne Gray: All Blacks won't be getting in a twist over rotation this time

Anthony Boric of the All Blacks is tackled during an All Blacks training session at the Ashbourne Rugby Club in Dublin. Photo / Getty Images

In the days of 6 o'clock closing and no television, the three Rs - the old rugby, racing and reproduction group - were described, mischievously, as the holy trinity in New Zealand.

As we have moved into a far more urbane era, that group has morphed into the rest, rotate or replicate theme in the rugby world.

It's been a subject with which the All Black selectors have wrestled since the World Cup started in 1987.

As subsequent tournaments have approached, each panel has had different theories about how to use their squad through the pool and play-offs.

Much of the noise on the current tour is about keeping the majority of the All Blacks playing each week, drafting in a few players - but nothing like the multiple changes which disfigured the rhythm of the team and ended their last World Cup campaign early.

Results can be misleading, but a solitary defeat so far this season makes pretty powerful reading.

The All Blacks selectors wanted to take a reduced squad to Hong Kong and Europe to test-drive ideas about next year and they have mocked their previous pleas by ignoring the chance to replace the non-travelling Sitiveni Sivivatu.

Injuries have been few and minor and the selectors will have learned a great deal about juggling their restricted resources.

Many of the vastly experienced side simply want to play and have been allowed to.

Both Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina, who surpass Sean Fitzpatrick's test-high mark tomorrow, have played a swag of footy.

McCaw has played 92 out of the 117 All Blacks tests since his 2001 debut, while Muliaina has claimed his tally while missing only 10 internationals since his first outing in the famous black jersey in 2003.

The selectors know it is not possible to cover every scenario. Luck and freakish injury can conspire at any time. It makes them uneasy, but they have kept the spine of the side and waived the rotation schemes.

The 1987 World Cup champions were able to maintain a side with minimal changes, though they did well to conceal the concussion suffered by halfback and captain David Kirk.

Four years later, the All Blacks could cover the never-on-Sunday beliefs of Michael Jones but fell in a hole when injury clobbered both fullback choices, Terry Wright and Shayne Philpott.

Selection options were irrelevant in South Africa in 1995 when food poisoning affected the bulk of the squad, while there was an unusual halfback change to Byron Kelleher for the semifinal at Twickenham four years later.

In Australia in 2003, the All Blacks never sorted out their midfield, lacking adequate centre replacement for the injured Tana Umaga, while they also messed about at lock.

There will be player dramas somewhere next season. No prizes for guessing two which would put a huge dent in the All Blacks' attempt to replicate 1987 on home soil.

Players will get injured, Brad Thorn may not be able to sustain his remarkable career, new players such as Robbie Fruean may demand inclusion.

When the All Blacks reassemble for the Tri-Nations series before the World Cup, they need to go for broke and keep going until the end of October.