Rugby: Men in black train in Bay

Ma'a Nonu was among the All Blacks training at Blake Park yesterday.

As excitement builds and speculation grows about the final make-up of the All Blacks Squad for the Rugby World Cup, the players are doing what players do.

Some have been released back to their provinces for ITM Cup games, including Sam Cane who is in the mix for the Bay of Plenty Steamers' game against Southland at ASB Arena Baypark tomorrow.

Others are on individual conditioning programmes.

But 19 of them are spending the early part of the week leading up to the official announcement of the squad at a training camp in Tauranga. Among them are Sonny Bill Williams, Ma'a Nonu and Dan Carter. Yesterday, they were making use of Blake Park.

The three-day camp is being run by All Blacks strength and conditioning coach Nic Gill who lives in Tauranga and who is in his eighth year working with the All Blacks.

As well as the outdoor sessions he will be utilising the high-performance area that he heads at the new Aspire Health and Sports facilities in Bethlehem. Players will also have use of the other gym facilities which include an indoor running track, 25m heated pool, hot and cold plunge pools for recovery and a health-focused cafe.

All Blacks Charlie Faumuina and Steven Luatua have previously trained at Aspire.

The final squad will be announced on August 30. They will then go into camp in Wellington from August 31-September 2 before reconvening for a three-day training camp in Auckland from September 7-9. They leave for London on September 10.