Patrick Tuipulotu will captain the All Blacks XV for the two-match visit to England and Ireland. Photo: PHOTOSPORT/ Andrew Cornaga
NZ Rugby added its newest side to the collection this week, with the selection of the All Blacks XV who will play two games in Dublin and London next month.
It's barely enough of a schedule to call a tour, with the roster of players leaving many scratching their heads. Is it a second team? A development team? An invitational team?
It's tempting to be cynical and say it's only about making money. But even that doesn't quite make sense either.
Let's go back to when the team was first announced, in early March, 2020. That's right, literally days before Covid-19 changed everything.
NZR didn't exactly roll out the big guns for the launch press conference, with Mark Robinson absent and his replacement saying: "This is a fantastic opportunity for those players to experience a national team environment and prove themselves on the international stage…It will help to develop the next group of players, many of whom will likely become our future All Blacks, as well as give further opportunities for our coaches and other team personnel."
OK, that's all well and good but the impression was that the All Blacks XV would be playing against Tier 2 nations in fixtures that the All Blacks couldn't fit into their schedule. Indeed, after its long Covid-enforced hiatus, it was believed the team would be playing its inaugural match against Canada, probably in Vancouver.
That game mysteriously disappeared off the schedule, along with another opponent that was never named. Instead, the All Blacks XV will play Ireland A and the Barbarians, the latter at London's newest stadium in Tottenham.
So, it's a bit confusing as to why the matches are not being played by the All Blacks themselves. Surely more people want to see the real All Blacks rather than the fake All Blacks - probably 20,000 more if they played that Barbarians game at Twickenham, with primary interest from this part of the world in seeing a coaching match up of Ian Foster v Scott Robertson.
Besides, there are more than a few All Black squad members who need game time (Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Stephen Perofeta the leading candidates) who coach Ian Foster has signalled will end up playing for the All Blacks XV anyway.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is not in the squad but is among All Blacks needing some game time, Jamie Wall writes. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
NZR have been open that this is a business venture for promotional company Rugby Live, which raises a couple of questions around whether that was the main motivation for raising the team in the first place.
Also, it seems like this side will barely ever play in New Zealand if that's the case, or even if it isn't because why would they, outside of a Lions tour.
Still, the stated goal of giving players who may otherwise be looking offshore an incentive to stay in the country is a valid one. Really though it's probably more useful for keeping coaches in New Zealand, as it's not hard to see the All Blacks XV being the proving ground for the next All Black coach in waiting.
But the team needs to figure out what it is first and maybe that'll help the players picked for it understand what they're actually playing for.
The criteria around selection have been vague - so much so that it appears that the All Blacks XV can more or less name whoever they like regardless of whether they're playing in New Zealand or not. In fact, players may not even need to be eligible for the All Blacks at all.
Brad Weber admitted on SENZ radio during the week that it took a call from Foster to stop him pulling out of the All Blacks XV completely to focus on his off season training. Pita Gus Sowakula has gone from a test player to being discarded completely.
Brad Weber needed some persuasion to play for the All Blacks XV. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Bryce Heem, as solid a player that he is, wasn't anyone's guess to be this close to the All Black selection frame, if indeed selection in the All Blacks XV actually means he's the next cab off the rank.
The alternative is to have put them all in an enlarged All Blacks squad, which wouldn't even be the first time in recent history. Steve Hansen split his team in two for matches against Japan and England on successive weekends.
Maybe the All Blacks XV will end up fulfilling the role of a black jersey brand for frontier markets (read: North America). But where does that leave the New Zealand rugby fan and the motivation to support them?
It's a team with All Blacks in its name that isn't actually the All Blacks, so the pressure to win that's synonymous with a black jersey just feels rather manufactured.
Probably best to save that experience for people overseas that won't be able to tell the difference.
