KEY POINTS:
Australia and South Africa may be about to pull a fast one on the All Blacks by pulling their top players out of the later rounds of the Tri-Nations.
This would rest key Wallabies and Springboks before the World Cup, and also deny the All Blacks decent opposition during their carefully planned build-up to the cup campaign.
The move would echo New Zealand's withdrawal of 22 All Blacks from the early Super 14 rounds for a programme of "reconditioning".
Waikato coach Warren Gatland said the move could result in the All Blacks being underdone and leave the NZRU questioning the timing of the reconditioning.
"If they are playing only a third-string French team and then Canada, well, my understanding is that the South Africans and the Australians are going to pull their players out of the second round of the Tri-Nations for their own conditioning window," Gatland said.
The All Blacks could arrive at the World Cup having played South Africa and Australia at their strongest only once.
Gatland said some of the All Blacks' top players had missed out on half the Super 14 competition, which was just below the level of international rugby "and a hell of a lot stronger than what the All Blacks are playing at the moment".
Last year's end-of-season Northern Hemisphere tour might have been a better time for the reconditioning, he said.
"I understand the logic of it but, on reflection, was the timing right?"
The former Ireland coach, who this week signed a contract extension at Waikato, also said he believed decisions on whether to retain Super 14 coaches had been made before the tournament started.
Gatland said he understood the move even though it had probably blocked his path to next year's Super 14 coaching ranks.
All Blacks coaches Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen were contracted until only the end of the cup tournament and Super 14 coaches Colin Cooper, Robbie Deans and Ian Foster were also coming off contract, so the NZRU faced losing six top coaches in one hit, he said.
"The downside was that they could have lost six coaches, three at the end of the Super 14 and three at the end of the World Cup.
"In terms of re-signing them, it was probably a bit of damage limitation."
