KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks' coach of the future could be in place as early as tomorrow evening.
Candidates Graham Henry, Robbie Deans, Colin Cooper and Ian Foster will be interviewed by the NZRU board tomorrow and its choice will likely be revealed soon after.
But if the decision is less than clear-cut, the board may continue its deliberations on Friday.
Chairman Jock Hobbs has withdrawn from the selection process due to his links with brother-in-law Deans, so the eight remaining board members with voting rights will select an acting chairman for the meeting.
That person, possibly rugby committee chairman Mike Eagle - a former Canterbury chairman - could be called upon to make a casting vote in the event of a deadlock.
The four candidates are to be interviewed for 90 minutes each, with about 25 minutes to be devoted to how they would improve the All Blacks.
Eagle yesterday sparked speculation Henry had the inside running after he said the World Cup would "not be the main focus of the interviews".
Eagle said picking a coaching team that could maintain the All Blacks' winning record between World Cups was the board's main priority.
That would seem to support the incumbent panel of Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, who compiled a record of 42 wins from 48 matches in charge over the past four years, including a clean sweep of the British and Irish Lions; a 2005 grand slam and multiple Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup titles.
But Eagle said he was "not in anyone's camp" and he was confident the board would be open-minded.
Deans has led in several opinion polls but how much the Crusaders supremo is tarred by his input into the John Mitchell-led 2003 World Cup campaign remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, new Wales rugby coach Warren Gatland says he fears for the future of the All Blacks as playing talent is drained off by northern hemisphere clubs.
"I'm hugely concerned about New Zealand rugby," Gatland told the Times newspaper in Britain.
The former Wasps and current Waikato coach was commenting as Rico Gear arrived at Worcester Warriors on a three-year contract.
Gatland, who was appointed Wales coach last month, also voiced fears about the devaluation of the All Blacks jersey, which he said was intensified by Henry's "rotation" policy.
He suggested the approach had undermined the sport and only accelerated the players' departure.
"If you're looking forward, you have to make that All Blacks jersey incredibly elite. You can't give it away."
- additional reporting NZPA
