'Selfish' Henry pulls plug on ANZ Cup
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:02
The All Blacks will play no further part in their country's premier domestic competition, the Air New Zealand Cup, this month, after coach Graham Henry decided to be a "bit selfish".
Most, if not all, of the All Blacks will be phased back into action in the Air NZ Cup in October - when the final round-robin matches, quarterfinals, semifinals and Final take place.
The Final will be on October 25, two days before the All Blacks fly to Hong Kong to begin their year-end tour.
And while nearly half the squad have been involved in matches over the past two rounds of the Air NZ Cup, they will play no part in the competition as the Kiwis prepare for the Tri-Nations decider against Australia in Brisbane on September 13.
"There's a pretty big game in Brisbane," Henry told NZPA.
"We don't want to have injury going into that Test match so there's a blanket rule we don't play this weekend," Henry said on the eve his team's one-off Test against Samoa in New Plymouth on Wednesday.
"We've got to be a wee bit selfish and make sure the guys are in shape for the following weekend."
The two rounds after Brisbane are categorised as rest weeks for the players in this year's collective agreement.
Henry said it was important to adhere to that although he admitted there was scope for players to negotiate an early return to their province.
"If an individual says he's keen and says he doesn't want that two-week break then that's a possibility," he told NZPA.
"It's not about a release. It's a matter of them talking about it and seeing if it can be arranged."
Henry said "the majority" of players would be drip-fed back into the competition in October, with the timing of their return dependent on how much rugby they had played this year.
