Headaches for Hurricanes coach.
In light of 2015 being World Cup year, each All Black must be given two full weeks off during the season, over and above the two bye weeks. That's made more complicated by promotional work some of the Hurricanes' All Blacks are doing after the current northern tour.
The Hurricanes begin next season with matches against the Lions and Bulls in South Africa, before playing the Western Force on the way through Perth to home. That schedule's a blessing and a curse.
"There are a couple of highly-raced players who are doi ng commercial windows in December, so their [end-of-season] breaks go a little bit longer. In fact Julian [Savea], Beauden [Barrett] and Conrad Smith technically would be required to miss round one, plus two games," Boyd said.
"But because of the logistics of us going to Africa, potentially, if they play in round one then I have to find an extra week [off] for them somewhere else."
It's not exactly the challenge you expect when you begin a job you've coveted. And so begins the task of deciding when the Hurricanes can afford to be without their top players.
"I've spent some time this morning trying to spread-sheet that," said Boyd.
"If you've got 10 guys that require a couple of weeks out, then you either leave one out every game or, if you want to play your best team at some stage, you've got to go without two or three on another day. It's challenging.
"The big problem is there are so many games that you don't want to rest anyone in. So you think of the local derbies; would you want to rest anybody against the Blues, the Crusaders or the Chiefs?"
Some absences could be covered, Boyd said. But Smith and Ma'a Nonu couldn't sit out the same games for instance, while the biggest absentee would be Barrett, who'll be backed up by James Marshall and Otere Black next year.
The nine Hurricanes on the All Blacks' northern tour, plus the injured Nonu, met en masse with Boyd last week. He described the meeting as extremely productive and was enthused about how committed the players were to achieving success with the Hurricanes.
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That includes Nonu, who Boyd believes won't cause any of the problems that saw him jettisoned by the Hurricanes in 2011.
"No. I had another meeting with Ma'a in the last couple of days and he's been awesome. He's really looking forward to rolling his sleeves up and playing.
"He's absolutely 100 per cent [committed to winning for his hometown team]. He's ringing me up, telling me things that we need to do. He's injured, recovering but he's picking up the phone saying 'we need to make sure we do this, this and this' so he's proactive and keen. Definitely."
Nonu's also among the 30 players in the 38-man squad who've played for the Hurricanes before. Twenty-nine of the 38 are from within the Hurricanes' catchment and that number would be 34 had Taranaki not opted to become part of the Chiefs.
As expected, Wellington wing Ambrose Curtis opted out of the first year of a two-season deal with the Hurricanes and will instead play sevens. Lions lock Christian Lloyd is among the new boys, despite playing very little rugby in the last two years.
- The Dominion Post
