Rugby: Cruden, Slade in All Black favour

Aaron Cruden. Photo / Supplied

The All Blacks five-eighths carousel whirls on with Aaron Cruden and Colin Slade back in favour and Stephen Donald flung off into the unwanted pile.

The pair are among a group of 25 players from the Chiefs, Hurricanes and Highlanders invited to two national training camps in Wellington in the next fortnight as part of the assessments before the first All Black squad is revealed on July 10.

Donald's omission leaves Cruden holding the inside line after his Super 15 campaign with Slade about to strap on his boots again in Christchurch club rugby this weekend in a comeback from his second broken jaw.

However, the wildcards will be Blues duo Luke McAlister and Stephen Brett whose form under the blowtorch pressure of the Super 15 playoffs will continue to peak the interest of the All Black selectors when they step out against the Waratahs tomorrow.

The decisions continue the merry-go-round to settle on the best deputy for Daniel Carter in the last two seasons. In six test segments, Donald, McAlister and Mike Delany were used alongside Carter in 2009, then Cruden and Donald were used with the master last year.

Cruden came on as a sub in six tests and started the Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney against the Wallabies last September but was subbed by Slade for the final quarter. Both were bypassed for the end of year tour.

In recent weeks Cruden has shone in the Super 15 and that more than anything appears to have convinced the panel he is coming right.

"I think it shows he's got the heart for it, the courage for it and he's also improved his kicking game," coach Graham Henry said yesterday.

"He's got more length in his kicks out of hand and he's had a high percentage of goalkicking over the last month or six weeks. He's certainly improved his kicking game.

"He been a threat with the ball. He's creative with the ball. We just enjoy his tenacity and what he's brought to the Hurricanes game, we think he's made a big difference there."

Slade would be put on a programme to include several Ranfurly Shield appearances and ITM Cup matches and the selectors would then be able to judge his form graph.

Henry had spoken to Donald and told him unless there were injuries, he was unlikely to be involved this year with the All Blacks.

Other selection features of the group are the inclusion of Chiefs prop Ben Afeaki, the return of Hurricanes halfback Piri Weepu and the Highlanders Ben Smith with lock-loose forward Jarrad Hoeata.

Henry said Afeaki was a young prop with enormous upside for the future while the selectors would treat Hoeata as a lock who could cover blindside.

"Some of these players have played a huge amount of football and Jarrad Hoeata has played in every game and so he doesn't need a lot of physical activity," said Henry. "He may need to have some awareness of what we are trying to do as a team and some time for the medical staff to check where he's at and work out what his programme is going forward."

Others like Isaia Toeava who had not played for six weeks and Tony Woodcock who had not played for three months would all be put on different programmes once they had been assessed.

Every player would be put on an individual plan depending on their health and rugby mileage this season.

Much of the on-field work at the camps would be skill-based training although sevens svengali Gordon Tietjens would take the squad through a training run on the second day of next week's camp.

IN THE FRAME

Chiefs: Ben Afeaki, Hikawera Elliot, Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard, Liam Messam, Mils Muliaina and Sitiveni Sivivatu.

Hurricanes: Aaron Cruden, Hosea Gear, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Neemia Tialata, Victor Vito and Piri Weepu.

Highlanders: Jimmy Cowan, Tom Donnelly, Jarrad Hoeata, Colin Slade, Ben Smith and Adam Thomson.

Injured players: Israel Dagg, Isaia Toeava and Tony Woodcock.