All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is comfortable fielding a potential second-string side in their historic rugby test in Samoa next July.
New Zealand Rugby today confirmed the All Blacks would play in Apia for the first time, in a Wednesday afternoon test on July 8.
That falls four days after the Super Rugby final in World Cup year and Hansen said it would be ”ridiculous” to expect any All Blacks who played the decider to back up in Apia.
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That raised the prospect of a host of frontliners missing the test if two New Zealand teams contest the final, something that last occurred in 2006 when the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes.
“That hasn’t happened for a while. We’ll deal with it,” Hansen said.
The coach took umbrage at the label ‘All Blacks B’, should, for example, the Crusaders and Chiefs meet in the Super Rugby final.
“It’s not a B team, there’s no such thing as an All Black B team. The All Blacks are going to play Samoa, end of story, and if we’ve got two teams in the final, well, we’ll still have an All Black team going to Samoa and it’ll be the best team we can pick and they will be expected to play like All Blacks.
“You’ll expect them to win, I’ll expect them to win, and Stephen [Betham, Samoa’s coach] will expect them to get beaten. We’ve got every respect for Samoan rugby, but we also know that you can’t ask someone to play in a grand final and three days later expect them to back up in a test match. That’s just ridiculous.
“If we’re to play this game, that’s the day we can play it and we’ve got to give a bit to get a bit and we’re happy to do that. We’ve thought about all the things that could possibly happen and we still think we can go there and represent New Zealand the way they should be represented.”
The test was sealed at New Zealand Rugby headquarters in Wellington when NZ Rugby chairman Brent Impey and Samoa Rugby Union chairman, the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, signed the agreement to play their first test outside New Zealand.
It will kick off the All Blacks’ tests in the year of their World Cup defence. Their Rugby Championship opener is tentatively scheduled for July 18, against Argentina, followed by South Africa then back-to-back tests against the Wallabies, one of those for the Bledisloe Cup. The Samoa test was scheduled on a Wednesday to give the All Blacks ample preparation time for their Rugby Championship opener.
“It’s the beginning of that 2015 season so it’ll be a great way for us to start and bring the guys together. It is going to be very special,” Hansen said.
“We’ve got a lot of Samoan guys in the team who are proud of their heritage. You can only imagine what it will be like. Only 20,000 can get into the ground but there’s going to be a lot more than that wanting to be part of it and we’re looking forward to that.”
NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said the All Blacks’ travel and accomodation costs were covered under the agreement but Samoa would take any gate profits. Sponsors are covering Samoa’s costs of staging the test, which weren’t disclosed. A crowd of 20,000-plus is expected at the stadium which will undergo some reconstruction.
Tew said the prospect of a test in Samoa was seriously discussed at the start of this year and with the World Cup meaning a shortened test programme and earlier finish to Super Rugby it fitted in nicely.
The Samoa Rugby Union welcomed confirmation of the match. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi said: “It will be an historic occasion to have the All Blacks play in Samoa in July 2015.
“The rugby supporters of both countries will savour a unique event in Apia as the Manu Samoa will face the number one team in the world at home. It is a match that will be watched by millions of viewers as we intend to broadcast it live to the rest of the world.
“I also challenge other tier one nations to come and play the Manu Samoa at home.”
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Depth shouldn’t be a problem for Samoa heading into the 2015 Rugby World Cup, thanks in large part to the Olympic sevens eligibility loophole.
Players are well aware of their dual eligibility for Samoa and other nations, and have been quick to get in touch with the Samoan Rugby Union about switching allegiance to the island nation.
Those in contact about representing Samoa include former New Zealand 15s or sevens representatives Fritz Lee, Isaia Toeava and Tim Nanai-Williams, as well as Australian Super Rugby players Fotu Auelua (No 8) and Alofa Alofa (winger).
For Lee, Toeava and Nanai-Williams any switch would see them use an eligibility loophole created due to the inclusion of sevens at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Any player tied to a tier-one nation that has not represented that country in the past 18 months can switch allegiance to a second country for which they hold a passport.
Samoa assistant coach Tom Coventry said the list of players having dual eligibility was long, and the vast majority of that list had already contacted the Samoan Rugby Union.
“Ambition is key,” Coventry said. “Guys who want to come and play for Samoa are valuable.
“You could ring guys and ask them to play, but to be fair, most of the guys who are now dual eligible and have the option to play have asked.
“There are a lot of them [who have contacted Samoan rugby]. They are playing rugby in different parts of the world and that’s the nature of the beast with Samoan rugby, and pacific island rugby in general.”
For players in New Zealand Super Rugby franchises a switch of allegiance will be a little harder.
Super Rugby contracts have a clause ensuring a player is available to play for only New Zealand at national level.
A player like Nanai-Williams will have to ask for an exemption to that clause if he was to play for Samoa.
“Super Rugby is all about developing All Blacks, so that makes sense. If they look at each case and decide they probably won’t be in All Black consideration, then they can choose to remove that clause.”
Coventry was excited by the prospect of having Lee, Toeava or Nanai-Williams join the Samoan team, but said it will take time to get a new- look Samoan side together.
“Someone like Fritz, he’s in superb form for Clermont. He’s one of their standout players, I think he was player of the year last year.
“It’s fantastic when they put their hand up, and obviously Fritz has a desire to play.
“For him to be able to play, he’d need to play in the [IRB Sevens World Series] in October to be available for our end of year tour.
“That would be purely at the whim of his club. They’d have to release him to do that, which would be very unlikely, so he’d have to wait until the end of the northern hemisphere season to play sevens and then for Samoa.
“That’s going to be the case for us, with players trickling in when they can.”
With the influx of established stars the current national team squad could be disheartened by losing first team places, but Coventry said the ageing Samoan squad is relishing the introduction of new talent.
“They realise that we have an ageing squad in need of some young talent,” Coventry said.
“Most of the guys are looking forward to it. We want to go deep in the World Cup and these guys will help us to do that.”
Coventry said the Samoan 15s coaches were in contact with Samoan sevens coach Stephen Betham, and Betham was excited about integrating players into his sevens squad during the season.