All Blacks: Thinking of home for 2011

Carl Hayman is in the UK playing for the Newcastle Falcons. Photo / Getty Images

Former All Black strongman Carl Hayman is likely to be part of New Zealand's 2011 World Cup campaign.

The prop, into his third year at English club Newcastle, says he still has the desire to pull on the black jersey again and will make a decision in the New Year whether to extend his contract or return home.

"There will be a few options, I'm sure," he says. "I will give thought to them all about January or February. But the thought of going home and trying to have another go at a World Cup would be tempting. As long as your body is holding together reasonably well, which mine is at the moment, it is something you would have to commit to."

You can bet Newcastle will urge him to stay, for another huge sum - he is reportedly on £325,000 ($822,580), the highest in the Premiership. But the likelihood is he will head to Heathrow and check in for the Auckland flight.

Why? The great incentive, the great sense of unfinished business that gnaws away at every All Black of recent vintage ... they have never been World Cup winners and they desperately want to be before they finish.

So if he comes home next May, would he want to be involved again at national level?

"I would try and push myself to get back into the squad. That desire is definitely still there. By statistics alone, New Zealand must be about to win a World Cup again and it would be lovely to be part of it. In an ideal world I would like to go back and be part of that. It is definitely something I am thinking about."

The All Blacks coaches are monitoring the form and status of just two overseas-based contenders and Hayman is sure to be one of them.

Of the 86 players to have featured in tests during the Henry regime, 35 play at overseas clubs. But assistant coach Wayne Smith said last week only "a couple in the UK" were on the selectors' radar and are contacted on a semi-regular basis by the coaches.

The identity of the other may be Harlequins first five-eighths Nick Evans, 28, who was frustrated at his lack of opportunity behind Daniel Carter.

Smith says any players wishing to be considered for the World Cup must return to New Zealand next year to become eligible: "Anyone that wants to have a crack at the World Cup has to play in the Air NZ Cup and Super 14 and play their way back into the All Blacks."

Hayman disagrees with the theory that he'll be almost 32 and perhaps past it. "There have been plenty of props of 32 who have played in World Cups" he protests.

He believes several New Zealanders could return home in time for 2011 and make a meaningful contribution.

Evans, now with Harlequins, is an obvious example, maybe Byron Kelleher of Toulouse, as well.

But Chris Jack returned to New Zealand, rubbishing the rugby in the Northern Hemisphere by saying he was fed up with the soft centre stuff. Hayman is surprised at that viewpoint.

"I am not too sure what he meant by that. I don't feel it's soft. These [the Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup] are very competitive competitions and the levels are very high, especially in the Premiership. It is one of the few competitions where you see upsets on a regular basis. It's pretty hard to forecast results; any team can beat any other. That makes for a good spectacle and good rugby.

"From my experience, if there is one thing that is different it is the pace of the game. It's not as fast as back home but that doesn't take away from the intensity and the impact. Maybe that is what Chris meant. For older players back home, with the game being so quick, that is why you see a lot of them moving on at a pretty young age.

"Not all come here from choice. The New Zealand sides look to move them on at a younger age but that's not a good thing in my view. These guys who have to move are very often still top quality players. So with all those guys leaving you are now seeing a lot of young players coming through to be chucked into the test arena at younger and younger ages."

Owen Franks looks to have a lot of potential, he thinks.

He doesn't beat about the bush when the conversation turns to money.

"I was happy to stay at least one more year. The money of course comes into it. This job doesn't last forever. You have to draw the line somewhere ...

"The money? It does get chewed up a bit by the costs in the UK. But even so, I am a lot better off than if I had stayed in New Zealand. For me, the financial package at the time outweighed my desire to stay and play in New Zealand. I have never had any regrets about that decision.

"I will be able to take quite an amount home and it will make a substantial difference to my life. It's quite a short career and you can keep rolling along to training every day and then play matches. But one week your knee may go, or your back or neck. That happens quite regularly. Then things are over. So you need to make hay while the sun shines. You never know when your time will be up."

So the good news is, not only has Carl Hayman done much to secure his future after rugby but he's seen a whole new part of the world. Together with his wife Natalie, there have been trips up to the north of Scotland, to Aberdeen and Inverness, and then across the seas to Ireland and also to France, where he went camping down the west coast.

Now the bad news (if you're a conditioning coach with a New Zealand provincial side, look away now). He went to Devon and Cornwall and discovered the delights of cream teas. Ruinous things, those ...

There is a sort of sheepish grin. "Really enjoyed doing that," he reports. "We got to a few pubs to chat with the locals, too. I've tried to do as much travelling as possible. New Zealand is pretty isolated so it's great having all these different countries and cultures on your doorstep.

"When I go back home, I will miss this, miss opportunities like that and the friends we have made. But home is still home."

On the Tri-Nations, he said: "I have still got a lot of good mates in the team and it would be nice to be out there. But you have to live with the decisions you make."

He suspects Graham Henry's team can turn things around in Durban tomorrow morning, citing what he calls "some pretty good resolve" in the team. "They will have a lot to think about after last weekend's game and being down at sea level in Durban is a big factor."

Peter Bills is a rugby writer for Independent News and Media in London