New Zealand Rugby will be working on a ‘trust the franchise’ basis on the contentious topic of resting All Blacks during Super Rugby Pacific, says All Blacks coach Ian Foster.
The Super Rugby Pacific draw was released on Monday and features a 14-round regular season with only one bye week per team. The finals series will then last for three weeks, meaning the two sides that make the final will play 17 games in 18 weeks.
No firm player management plans have been put in pace, in part due to the delayed NPC season, but Foster told Stuff that consultation – rather than a ‘top-down’ mandate from NZ Rugby – is the way forward.
“I think if you look at the last two years, we’ve really we’ve really tried to look at a situation where we’ve worked on principles of player management rather than trying to be too fixed on a formula that covers a whole range of players,” Foster said.
“The whole concept really is to work with the franchise and to allow them to develop a plan that we look at.”
The issue has been a flashpoint in recent times – particularly in last few years of the Sir Steve Hansen era – as the All Blacks and the Super Rugby sides tried to balance their needs.
However, Foster said the “buy-in” from the Super Rugby clubs has been encouraging so far, but pointed out that Super Rugby Pacific should allow ample opportunities for players to be rotated.
“The idea is that we really want to trust the franchise that they look after parts of that [plan] and are open to some guidelines, and can have a conversation so we get aligned,” he said.
“They buy-in has been pretty good and there’ll be ongoing talks.
“…to be frank with Super Rugby Pacific, there should be a lot of scope for some good management tools within the draw.”
The addition of two new teams, Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua, and five games against Australian opponents of varying quality means that all the Kiwi sides should be able to look at their draw and plan to be without the All Blacks for certain fixtures.
The Crusaders, Blues and Chiefs, in particular, are stacked with a large contingent of key All Blacks, and will have to use their squad depth – especially with only bye week during the 14-round regular season.
The Highlanders and Hurricanes have fewer All Blacks, and in the Deep South the emergence of Folau Fakatava at No 9 should allow Aaron Smith’s workload to be managed effectively.
Foster also indicated that the three-test home series against Ireland in 2022 – now hotly anticipated after the All Blacks’ loss in Dublin at the weekend – would start two weeks after the Super Rugby Pacific final (on June 18), while the All Blacks could start their Rugby Championship campaign next year with two tests against the Springboks.
“Next year if we return to a normal international program, then we’re having three tests against Ireland 14 days after a Super Rugby final, and then two weeks after that there’s a couple of tests against South Africa, or something like that,” Foster said.
“So, will there be a need to make sure that our top players are managed effectively? The answer’s yes. But do we want a rigid formula? No. We want one where the franchises can manage their own destiny to a certain degree “
