KEY POINTS:
All Blacks will be sidelined from provincial rugby throughout September unless a player can mount a desperate plea to coach Graham Henry.
Most if not all players in Henry's squad will play in the Air NZ Cup next month, taking in the 10th and final round-robin matches, quarterfinals, semifinals and final on October 25 - two days before they fly to Hong Kong to begin their year-ending tour.
Nearly half the squad have been involved in matches over the past two rounds but that involvement will end this weekend, one week out from the Tri-Nations decider against Australia in Brisbane on September 13.
"There's a pretty big game in Brisbane. We don't want to have injury going into that test match so there's a blanket rule we don't play this weekend," Henry said on the eve his team's one-off test against Samoa in New Plymouth tonight.
"We've got to be a wee bit selfish and make sure the guys are in shape for the following weekend."
The two rounds after Brisbane are categorised as rest weeks for the players in this year's collective agreement.
Henry said it was important to adhere to that although he admitted there was scope for players to negotiate an early return to their province.
"If an individual says he's keen and says he doesn't want that two-week break then that's a possibility," he said.
"It's not about a release. It's a matter of them talking about it and seeing if it can be arranged."
Henry said "the majority" of players would be drip-fed back into the competition in October, with the timing of their return dependent on how much rugby they had played this year.
- NZPA
