KEY POINTS:
A full review by an independent assessor will cast a hard eye over the failed World Cup campaign.
I hope that it looks at more than just what went wrong at the tournament.
Clearly issues like rotation of players and the heavily criticised rest and recreation break at the start of the year will be gone over thoroughly.
But I believe it's a chance to take a good look at the whole structure of New Zealand rugby, taking in all aspects. Just how wide the review is will depend on the terms of reference.
Here, in no particular order of priority, are some aspects the review should cover:
1. Are New Zealand's top players too pampered?
I have no issue with All Blacks travelling business class around the world but there is a risk players from Super 14 up - and those just making their way in the professional ranks - can lose touch with reality.
At least one NRL club in Australia puts its players out to work for one day a week, to find out how the real world lives. I still struggle to comprehend the All Blacks taking a short holiday during the World Cup. It's not as if they're working all hours of the day.
Chief executives who work 15 hours a day might raise an eyebrow at All Blacks whose day consists of a training run, perhaps a blackboard or video session and not much else, needing a holiday.
Pay a visit to AFL or NRL clubs. Okay, they are domestic competitions, but find out how they operate in terms of player welfare. How do league players play 26 tough games week after week, where some All Blacks played 15 over eight months? This relates to burnout, which I'll come to.
2. Loosening the Super 14 rules on ownership.
All players are centrally contracted, which, generally has worked well.
But if top players are to be kept in New Zealand, perhaps allowing private equity into franchises would help.
The effect could be twofold: putting more money to retain players into the franchises, and free up a chunk of NZRU money to be put into the grassroots of the game, which is suffering. Kill off the bottom tier and you have no natural feeding process through to the top.
Realistically, how viable is the Air New Zealand Cup? How can club rugby be reinvigorated?
3. Look again at opening All Black selection to players based overseas.
There is a compelling case against that, and in favour of retaining the status quo, ie only players playing in New Zealand are eligible. But check it from all angles.
4. Go the other way, and make it more difficult for players to nip off to Europe for a two or three-year all expenses paid jaunt before coming home months before the next World Cup expecting to waltz back into the All Blacks.
Put in a rule that players must be back playing in New Zealand two, or even two and a half years before the cup.
5. Guard against player burnout.
I watched the national secondary schools final between Gisborne Boys High and Mount Albert Grammar shortly before the World Cup.
Four of the Gisborne boys had been recruited to the Crusaders. The Crusaders, as evidenced by their Super rugby record, run a pretty smart operation.
It's an often-used expression, but life skills are critical for young men.
Playing rugby and getting handsomely paid is fine, but players need a balance and it's important that rugby is not the be all and end all.
The All Blacks have lost crucial matches in recent times due to players being unable to react to pressure. Certainly Graham Henry and co have spent much time and effort attempting to rectify this at the top - with, it appears, mixed success.
How about looking at the next generation and what life skills they are receiving.
Also - and this leads on to point 6 - how much longer can players be expected to travel backwards and forwards to South Africa and Australia at the present rate, and still produce their best rugby?
Why do players head for Europe? Money, but also they fancy sleeping in their own beds, hopping off for a 45-minute flight every second week, be back home the morning after the game. Far easier and less draining.
6. Go over New Zealand's competition structure.
Is it too much to expect the best players to play three demanding segments - Super 14, the mid-year All Black programme, then the Air New Zealand Cup - before finishing with an end-of-year tour to Europe?
Should top players be counted out of the Air New Zealand Cup?
Should the Junior All Blacks or New Zealand A undertake the end-of-year tour instead of the All Blacks, even every second year?
Okay, there is a financial imperative to that.
The All Blacks - even quarter-final losers - will still sell out stadiums around Europe.
7. Can we really expect spectators to turn up for Super 14 or national championship rugby minus All Blacks?
We've seen the answer this year. Spectators voted with their feet.
This relates directly to the competitions.
It seems to be a lot of average football just to fill in time.
8. And finally, the NZRU has to look at itself.
Chairman Jock Hobbs has already said his head is on the block.
What about other top officials, including chief executive in waiting Steve Tew, whose hand has now been involved in three botchups - losing the 2003 sub-hosting rights; the failed 2003 cup campaign; and now this, yet was appointed without the job going through a tender process?
It will be a fascinating review, if the union does it properly.
If they give it a once-over lightly they will, like the All Blacks in France, have dropped the ball.
