KEY POINTS:
The Junior All Blacks will return next year and most likely play in a shadow Tri Nations against South Africa A and Australia A.
There is an outside chance they could also play against either France and or Italy who are both due to tour here next June with a one-off clash against the New Zealand Maori being given serious thought.
Having come under fire in recent weeks for scrapping the Junior All Blacks this year, the New Zealand Rugby Union has reiterated its intention to resurrect a side that proved a useful stepping stone for aspiring All Blacks in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
NZRU professional rugby manager Neil Sorenson, said: "It has always been our intention to reintroduce the Junior All Blacks in 2009. The question is, what is a decent programme for them?
"At this stage, and we are still throwing ideas around, it would be two matches in June against tier one nations. That would probably mean South Africa A and Australia A.
"This year we asked Ireland and England if they would be interested in playing a midweek game against either an Air New Zealand Cup side or a franchise but they declined. Next year Italy and France are coming down so we will look to put a proposal to them.
"Italy are playing in Australia before they get here so maybe they could come here on a Wednesday before their test and we could look at the Junior All Blacks being involved there as well."
The Juniors had a short tour of Australia in 2005 and then took a place in the Pacific Six Nations Cup in 2006 and 2007. They romped through both years to claim the title and the NZRU became concerned the tournament was not competitive enough.
With a commitment having been given to the IRB that New Zealand would enter a team into the Pacific Six Nations, the Maori seemed a better fit.
At the end of last year a decision was taken by the NZRU board to pull the Juniors out of the Six Nations and give their place to the Maoris. The Maoris had, for the last few years, been involved with the Churchill Cup - an annual tournament featuring A sides from the home nations as well as Canada and the USA. But, again, there were concerns that that tournament was not right for the Maori as it meant they were playing exclusively off-shore, which was making it hard for them to be an aspirational side for young Maori players.
There were also mounting financial burdens hitting the NZRU which became another factor in the decision to put the Juniors on hold for 2008 and hand their Six Nations place to the Maori.
The decision was made easier for the board as, at the end of last year, the intention was to take a tour party of 45 to the Northern Hemisphere for a Grand Slam tour that would also feature several midweek games against club sides.
But when the tour games, bar one with Munster, fell through, the intended tour party was shrunk to 34 players with a final decision pending.
The upshot is that a host of promising players such as Kieran Read, Tom Donnelly, Lelia Masaga, Fetu'u Vainikolo as well as former All Blacks such as Chris Masoe, have only been able to play club rugby these past few weeks, leaving them light on preparation should injuries, as they have, strike in the All Blacks.
Sorenson said that despite being caught short this year, there are no future plans to run an extended Junior All Black programme alongside the Tri Nations.
The cost would be prohibitive he said and that scenario would see more quality players taken out of provincial rugby.
Once concept that will, however, be looked at, is a game between the Juniors and Maori next year.
"It will be given consideration," said Sorenson. "A game like that has a lot of merit."
