Rugby: AB rejects told to stand by for action

Reporter·NZ Herald·

2 Sep, 2015 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Lima Sopoaga is first cab off the rank if an injury befalls one of the All Blacks first fives. Photo / Getty Images

Slade's injury scare a warning to be set for call-up, Hansen advises those not selected.

Coach Steve Hansen has used Colin Slade's injury scare as a warning to the unlucky few not selected for the All Blacks' World Cup squad to prepare as if they will be required.

The 12 players not selected for the 31-player squad - most notably Cory Jane, Charles Piutau, Israel Dagg and Lima Sopoaga - will meet the All Blacks coaches in Wellington today to discuss why they were left out and what is expected of them over the next few weeks.

Talking a day after Slade left training at Wellington's Hutt Recreation Ground with a minor knee tweak, Hansen said an ITM Cup assignment could quickly turn into a plane trip to England for those on standby.

"[The discussion] is their moment to have a chat about why they're not in the team and the other key message that we've got to get across is that this is our expectation of you going forward," Hansen said. "There's a possibility you could be on a plane tomorrow. You only have to see how quickly things could have turned yesterday [Slade's slip].

"A lot of it will be just between us and them and some of it will be about logistics and so forth. It's just important they can get back to playing really good rugby in the ITM Cup."

Hansen said there was no point basing players in Europe in case of injury during the tournament because World Cup regulations insisted on a 48-hour stand-down period before a player could join the squad as an injury replacement.

The All Blacks will today disperse to different parts of the nation - a repeat of a successful innovation before the last tournament - before meeting in Auckland on Tuesday for their final pre-Cup camp. They will leave for England next Thursday.

Hansen said his squad for the first game against Argentina at Wembley on September 21 (NZT) was pretty much set in his mind.

"We've got a pretty good idea who we're going to start. Obviously with a four-day turnaround [before the Namibia match] we're going to have to make some changes for the second one. We know we're playing Argentina and that's probably one of the key games for the pool. We'll try to put as many of our best players out as we can but we've still got an important game four days later.

"Some of them might have to back up - probably two or three and then we'll get the rest of them on the park.

"Without telling Namibia what we're going to do, the key thing is working out what's critical ... and recovery is something that will be critical as we'll have a large number of people who will ... be playing some part of the game, I should imagine.

"Getting over the game is going to be critical so how often do we train ... it might not be practical to do too much from a physical point of view."

Asked whether he enjoyed World Cups or hated them because of the extra pressure, Hansen, who coached Wales in 2003, said: "I love them. This is the fourth one I've been to.

"You get to test yourself against everybody. You know everybody you're playing is up for it. Sometimes I wonder in between World Cups how the other nations are driving their bus; whether they are mucking around or whether they are really serious ... They also probably don't have as many expectations as we have on us to win every test match. So for us, the pressure's no greater than it normally is, just a bigger box of chocolates at the end of it."