Hansen's World Cup plans may be ahead of schedule

Hansen's World Cup plans may be ahead of schedule

The reality now is that every team keeps a slight eye on the upcoming Rugby World Cup, part of a four-yearly cycle that has become important to a nations planning for regeneration, player selection and deciding which if any players are worth retaining long term for the overall development of the side.

The All Blacks, as defending Rugby World Cup champions, will be quite happy with the state of affairs roughly 24 months after winning their second Webb Ellis Cup.

They have only lost once since beating France at Eden Park, and only a dozen players are left from that heady day in 2011.

However unlike former World Cup winners, the All Blacks haven’t been caught off guard with the progression of the team, and a central part of the Hansen regime's grand plan has been the continued introduction of fresh blood, a theme continued this year.

Aaron Smith and Julian Savea were the headline acts of the debutants last season, while Steven Luatau and the re-emergence of Ben Smith have been talking points so far in 2013.

This has combined with the growth of the middle tier, the likes of Sam Whitelock, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick and Israel Dagg proving their value to the black jersey, providing a crucial cushion between the likes of McCaw and the elder statesmen and the new faces that continually emerge.

What has kept the All Blacks progress constant despite the changes to personal has been ability of their men over 30, several key players wielding well over half the current squads Test caps, to continue performing on the highest stage.

It would be a brave selector, even one with Steve Hansen’s forthrightness, to skip over the likes of Conrad Smith, Tony Woodcock and the grizzled confidence that Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore still offer to the team.

Yet while questions over the development of the All Blacks midfield will be in front of Steve Hansen, Ian Foster and Grant Fox’s minds, they will be happy with the stacked areas, with halfback, first five-eighth and the three quarter lines boasting some pleasing competition.

But Hansen and the All Blacks have ensured that regeneration and development are primaries, and while one of the team’s constant goals to remain a winning team haven’t been compromised, the fact that an aging core has never been allowed to rust has the dream of becoming the first nation to defend a World Cup alive and kicking.

my first thought before i read this article was that it was going to touch on have the All Blacks peaked too early???
in the past many have said that the All Blacks peaking early is why they struggle with the RWC, something i didnt agree with then, but the All Blacks 2011 win has pretty much snuffed that theory out.

now the only chant going around is the All Blacks cant win outside of NZ. a claim hard to dispute considering the facts, but i bet u couldnt find one person here or abroad who would risk betting the mortage on that with the 2015 RWC just around the corner.

but hats off to hansen and the way we are bringing in the new talent. we have the perfect balance which IMO is the envy of other nations,
the balance is perfect and IMO there are four categories that All Blacks fall in. seasoned veterans, experienced middle tier, middle tier work in progress and fresh blood.

seasoned veterans are the old dogs of war who have been there and done that.
experienced middle tier are players who have many playing years still ahead of them, but are already key core players of the current All Black family.
middle tier work in progress are players that are familiar with the All Black structures, but have only started to get more game time due to the many reasons often associated with after RWC.
fresh blood are the players who have debuted for the All Blacks after 2011.

of those 4 sub classes, here are all the players who have been in great form for the All Blacks the last two years, (* indicates players who are important, even though their involvement is currently minimal)

seasoned veterans
McCaw, d carter a hore, t woodcock, c smith, m nonu, c jane*

experienced middle tier
s whitelock, o franks, k read, a cruden, i dagg

middle tier work in progress
l messam, b smith, SBW*, v vito*

fresh blood
a smith, j savea, s luatua, l romano, b retallick,

this is a list of 20 players who if the RWC was on next week i would consider a must for the All Blacks squad.

i have a very very good feeling about the All Blacks from now until the end of the 2015 season, :o)

Sasuke if you stop admiring your cock for 1 second this is for you http://youtu.be/DdIkBKdG9vk 

 NewZealand have been inconsitent in worldcups where they have typically not coped well with pressure and playing against strong forward packs that were fired up to due the occasion.

NewZealand were very lucky to even beat France in the final in 2011.

Had this been the French teams of old they would not have won the match. The French now days are a very average team.

The most fortunate decision was the Bryce Lawrence Fiasco that ruined the Worldcup as a contest. (and who was later awarded NewZealand referee of the year)

NewZealand did not play well in the last worldcup and I think the Springbok forward pack would have taken them to the cleaners.

In Graeme Henry's autobiography book released after the worldcup, he said that the whole team cheered and celebrated when they found out that they would be facing Australia in the semis instead of South Africa. His exact words were that his team knew they could beat Australia.  (The youtube movie he released that was posted on this forum by Poie, he also stated this.).

At the 2007 worldcup the breakdown calls went against the AllBlacks, and when this happens against a physical pack in the worldcup NewZealand come under the whip.

 Is whining about refs the new saffa sport ?? in that RWC game vs OZ your boys had plenty of opportunity but werent good enough .And this is the same team that the ABS had thrashed no probs in 2010 and 2011 ,the boks were very lucky to beat wales  in the pools ! And take NZ to the cleaners ? Wasnt PE in 2011 the last time your lot scraped out a win ? pfffft !

 Everyone seems to forget that it was Bryce's reffing that put the Aussies on the same side of the draw as the bok and kiwis. His lop sided cheating reffing v Ireland helped them beat the Aussies. The RWC 2011 will always be remembered by the hometown ref ruining the spectacle. At least it saved the kiwis wives from the awful aftermath of domestic violence... So in that context probably Bryce was voted ref of the year by the kiwi house wife....

Only a retarded Australian would whinge about Bryce Lawrence if the Aussies beat SA in the match BL reffed. 

Australia were shit vs Ireland deserved to lose