Rugby: Drive to fix wrong compels returns

The silver lining to the cloud cast by the last World Cup campaign has maybe been found.

The All Blacks were so devastated at France in 2007, not one of the 30 players involved has been able to make peace with himself.

Demons have clearly not been laid to rest, as almost all who flew the coop are making noises about coming home for another crack at the title in 2011.

Luke McAlister, whose role will forever be remembered in the quarter-final defeat, is already back.

Chris Jack, another who packed up his troubles and never thought he would be coming home with his old kit bag, has signed to resume, probably with the Crusaders, next year.

Carl Hayman has effectively said he wants his test jersey back and will return next year to claim it and, in the past week, Aaron Mauger and Doug Howlett have said they are giving 2011 serious consideration.

It's easy to understand what's driving the players. Their sense of disbelief is strong. They really believed 2007 was going to be their year and that they had ticked all the right boxes.

To this day, few, if any, of the players involved that night in Cardiff can say what went wrong.

And that's the key. When Jack, Hayman, Howlett and Mauger signed for their European clubs ahead of the 2007 World Cup, they imagined they would be leaving on a high.

The All Blacks, conquerors of all in the previous three years, would lift the trophy on October 20 and everyone could move with no unfinished business.

There were open minds but Jack, Hayman, Mauger and Howlett never really thought they would be back. They never thought they would feel so drawn to home; so determined to get back into the test arena.

Time away has changed everything. Absence has helped the heart grow fonder. As Hayman said in a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald: "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.

"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."

Hayman's off contract next May and he's almost certain to come home. So could Mauger, currently with the Tigers, and Howlett, who is at Munster.

Which presents some obvious questions. Firstly, with some heavy traffic likely heading back to New Zea-land, surely the national body has to scrap the rule about All Black selection being dependent on playing the preceding domestic competition.

The so-called Luke McAlister ruling showed what a farce the legislation is. Bottom line - a year out from the World Cup, if Hayman comes home, he plays the June tests next year.

No ifs, buts nor penance served with the Junior All Blacks. He's in and if the selectors feel any other returnees are in good enough shape to merit a call-up, in they go, too.

That, essentially, is the second and most important question - will Hayman, Jack, Mauger and Howlett be good enough? Can they actually force their way into the 2011 World Cup squad?

A couple of years in the uber-physical Guinness Premiership will have done plenty for Hayman, who, at 29, is still a baby. Former All Black Carl Hoeft is duffing up props across France and he's close to 35.

Hayman could be the rock around which the All Blacks build their 2011 campaign and with the right management, and a bit of luck to avoid injury, he could be involved in 2015. He's world class with room to get better.

Jack may have been sliding to the periphery of the All Blacks before he left in 2007 - having been left out of the starting XV for the quarter-final. But his time in England and South Africa may have addressed some of his shortcomings.

"It's certainly given me a greater appreciation of a different kind of rugby," he said in the August issue of NZ Rugby World magazine.

"Playing in that wet weather, you have to adapt your game. Back in New Zealand, we love throwing the ball around and playing the game at a lively pace, but it's much slower up north. There's a focus on pick-and-gos and you really get to understand the dark arts of forward play a bit better. My time in the UK has certainly toughened me up.

"Obviously it's a big motivation to go back and represent my country when they host a World Cup. I've played in two World Cups so far and have been bitterly disappointed in both. Maybe this one will be different. I feel I still have something to give to New Zealand rugby."

There has to be some hope that Jack, who at 30 is a year younger than Springbok locking ace Victor Matfield, has matured into the sort of lock the All Black coaches no longer believe this country produces. Rather than some pseudo-loose forward, Jack's stint with Saracens may have moulded him into a more rugged, core-skills kind of beast.

As for Mauger, it would be crazy to believe he's not All Black material any more. Mauger is McAlister without the thighs but with a cooler head. He's the calming influence the All Blacks have missed - a trusted set of eyes who brings out the best in Dan Carter. He's only 28.

Howlett shouldn't be dismissed on the grounds that he's almost 31, a veteran by modern standards. Howlett is the consummate professional. His game has continually evolved to the point where he's just as composed at fullback as he is on the wing.

We can only wonder whether these four players would feel the same way if the All Blacks had reached the final in 2007 or at least played to their full potential.

There is an energy and desire to fix things up in two years, to put right what went so wrong and that, if nothing else, is a start.