Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has shared some advice with the All Blacks, as the side prepare to spend the next three months abroad.
The All Blacks set out for Australia this week for their Rugby Championship campaign, and won't return until after their scheduled end of year tour in the Northern Hemisphere,which concludes in late November.
With the Auckland NPC player having spent the last two years based abroad with the Warriors in the NRL, Tuivasa-Sheck was able to share his experiences with All Blacks coach Ian Foster.
"I've had a good chat to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck in Auckland before we left about what it was like over there and some of the things that were working," Foster told Newstalk ZB's Elliott Smith.
"Because, particularly the Warriors, they've done an amazing job. I know they haven't got the results that they wanted but it's been an amazing circumstance what they've had to go through. There have been some lessons out of there.
"But we also like to find our own solutions at times, so whilst we're open to what other teams are doing, I think the key is that we don't treat any week as being the same as the last one; we just look at where the group is at and what we feel we need."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster. Photo / Photosport
Tuivasa-Sheck left the Warriors to begin his rugby union career earlier this year, being released from his Warriors contract early to allow him to return to New Zealand before the Government had paused the transtasman travel bubble last month.
He was expected to make his debut for Auckland in the third round of the NPC when Auckland were scheduled to meet Bay of Plenty, however the match was cancelled as New Zealand went into level 4 lockdown earlier this month.
But while the rest of the country was locked down, the All Blacks embarked on a long road trip, one which Foster said would be a unique experience.
"This is probably a tour like none other in the professional era," Foster told media earlier this week. "Everyone has had to say goodbye to families but, overall, we're very excited about it and we know when we get to Perth we can settle down and address the challenges ahead one by one."
The All Blacks named a 35-man squad for the Rugby Championship, which resumes next weekend, but left Sam Whitelock, Richie Mo'unga and Aaron Smith in New Zealand as they are all expecting to welcome new members of their families in the near future.
The trio are expected to miss the next three All Blacks tests – one against the Wallabies and two against Argentina. Dane Coles and Sam Cane were also left behind as they continue to work back from injuries, but are both expected to join the team before the year is out.
