KEY POINTS:
The World Cup-bound All Blacks will be scarcely sighted in this year's Air New Zealand Cup.
Assistant coach Wayne Smith today said pre-tournament camps would be enough to keep the bulk of the 30-strong New Zealand squad match-fit in the seven weeks between the final Tri-Nations test against Australia next week and their World Cup opener against Italy on September 8.
Training and internal matches at the camps were the preference of the All Blacks coaches, rather than exposing players to domestic rugby.
"We've road-tested this the last few years," Smith said.
"We've gone from Tri-Nations to end-of-year tours, sometimes in the space of six or seven weeks, and played bloody well in those first couple of games because in our camp we've managed to have activities that are match-like in hardness.
"We seem to have got the mix right, that they've always hit the tour really fizzing."
The Air New Zealand Cup kicks off on July 26, four days after the World Cup squad is named. Five rounds will be played before the All Blacks leave for France, with the provincial final set down for October 20, the day of the World Cup final.
Smith said no firm decision would be made on player involvement in the Air New Zealand Cup until after the Tri-Nations.
"We've just got to get through the next two weeks and then make some decisions on whether guys need rugby or not."
However, the camp method has long been part of the All Blacks coaches' planning. It would involve bringing in players from the outside to make up numbers for intra-squad games.
"We don't just get to this stage of the year and say 'what are we going to do'?" Smith said.
"There's an element of peaking physically as well, and getting into a speed and power phase.
"I think we've got an advantage over the northern hemisphere teams in that we can go to the Cup match-hardened.
"We're not going to blow that by keeping them inactive."
The details of the camps have yet to be finalised but Smith said there wouldn't be the exhausting nationwide tour that marked the All Blacks' pre-2003 campaign.
One player likely to need domestic rugby to prove himself will be prop Greg Somerville, who returned at club level this month after 10 months recovering from Achilles tendon surgery.
The All Blacks selectors are allowed to leave a place open when they name their World Cup squad on Sunday next week. The squad must be finalised by August 14.
- NZPA
