KEY POINTS:
Last August, the day after the All Blacks had completed a clean sweep against the Wallabies, a new plank in the World Cup plan was revealed.
The strategy introduced another term to the All Black lexicon, another expression which has become as familiar and as thoroughly discussed as rotation.
Reconditioning. There it was, laid out in all its splendour as coach Graham Henry, NZRU chief executive Chris Moller and other stakeholders delivered all sorts of endorsements about the programme.
After plenty of discussion among the franchises, broadcasters, sponsors and players, the NZRU had approved the stand down scheme for 22 players in the first half of the Super 14.
Those players would undergo special conditioning programmes to rebuild and refreshen them for the rest of the year.
It was different, it was innovative, it was expensive, it was controversial. Debate flourished.
Supporters talked of player welfare, unprecedented fitness levels and the best possible All Black preparation for the World Cup while sceptics were concerned about the absence of stars from the Super 14, the drain on resources and the impact on crowds and viewing audiences.
Seven months on from the original announcement of the conditioning plan, the exempt players are about to have their first taste of Super 14 action.
They have completed the rigorous 12 week course set for them by strength and conditioning coach Graham Lowe and according to all the media releases they have all become faster and stronger.
"I think New Zealand rugby is going to be stronger for the conditioning programme," Henry said this week as he eyed the start of the All Blacks' comeback.
The judgement will not be delivered for another seven months - in October when the All Blacks are involved in the sudden-death stages of the World Cup.
New Zealand's inability to repeat their 1987 World Cup victory forced Henry and his staff into a major rethink.
They changed their entire XVs for successive tests, mixed and matched other selections and then protected 22 players from the Super 14.
If the side wins the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time, most of the misgivings of the last few seasons will be washed away. However there will be those who claim the game has been damaged too much because of the All Blacks, that their needs have had a negative impact on the Super 14 and national provincial championship.
Nothing less than a World Cup triumph will appease those critics.
There were misconceptions about the conditioning programme, that those involved were having a cushy time while their teammates were getting bashed up on the field. That was discounted by all those involved and observers of the punishing regimes the players were put through.
The 22 All Blacks had the weekends off but Monday to Friday they sweated buckets in the gym, out on the field, boxing, doing yoga and pilates, strength work, speed sessions and endurance programmes.
The results, we were told, were impressive.
Will they translate to the rugby field? Fast-forward to October for the verdict. Conjecture has it that the 22 have the inside running for World Cup selection, that barring injury they will all make the 30-strong squad for the sixth World Cup, that the NZRU would not invest all the time and money in their preparation to then abandon them.
That suspicion will not be answered until late July when the World Cup squad is announced.
Meanwhile the excitement of watching new talent like Stephen Brett, Lelia Masaga, David Smith, Michael Patterson and Kieran Read, will have been balanced for the NZRU by a drop in television viewers.
According to reports, interest in the start of the Super 14 was a lot lower than last season.
There could be any number of reasons, according to Sky, like the competing attractions of cricket coverage, the advanced start in February and the absence of top All Blacks.
That defection has already seen the NZRU pay $750,000 compensation to the franchises.
Competition backers News Ltd, who were so disapproving last year when the All Blacks announced their scheme to bypass half the Super 14, have been strangely silent about the descending attendances.
It will be intriguing to see whether the return of the 22 will reverse that trend.
Their fitness profiles may be impressive but they are not Supermen. Henry believes it will take them several matches to integrate them properly to the series.
How that plays out for some like the All Blacks returning to the Blues will be intriguing after coach David Nucifora decided to bypass them for tonight's game against the Waratahs.
Robbie Deans has taken the opposite tack at the Crusaders, chucking all six of his test players into action as soon as they were available.
