News

Henry keeps his ABs on ice

Thursday 04th September 2008

One more month: Henry wants to keep hold of his All Blacks a little longer

All Blacks coach Graham Henry will keep his players sidelined from playing in the Air New Zealand Cup throughout September unless a player can mount a desperate plea to play.

Most if not all players in Henry's squad will play in the domestic tournament next month, taking in the tenth and final round-robin matches, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on October 25 - two days before they fly to Hong Kong to begin their year-ending tour.

Nearly half the squad have been involved in matches over the past two rounds but that involvement will end this weekend, one week out from the Tri-Nations decider against Australia in Brisbane on September 13.

"There's a pretty big game in Brisbane. 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 told NZPA.

"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 said.

"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.