Manager knows how All Black rookies feel

Shane Hurndell
Any All Black rookies feeling overawed by their new environment should turn to their Hawke's Bay-raised manager, Darren Shand, for advice.
Shand, a product of Parkvale School, Heretaunga Intermediate and St John's College, knows exactly how they're feeling.
A New Zealand under-23 hockey representative while still at St John's College, Shand missed selection in the national team in 1984 after moving from Hawke's Bay to Dunedin to attend Otago University.
"I had too much success too young and when I got down there I didn't have the mental strength to compete against some of the older and better players around ... I was overawed," he said during a spell between All Black manager duties leading up to Friday night's trial at Napier's McLean Park.
"It came down to having a better understanding and self-belief. That experience can help me deal with some of our young players in similar situations," Shand said.
"New Zealanders are a bit humble but to have that edge in professional sport you have to be confident. During the last couple of years I've been looked up to as a leader and it's been a big challenge to upskill myself ... luckily there are lots of leaders around me," he said.
Like so many sports personalities from the Bay who have gone on to bigger and better things, Shand, 39, is full of praise for the opportunities he had as a youngster in the Bay and for his supportive parents Jim, a retired teacher, and Ngaire, a long-serving teacher at Heretaunga Intermediate.
"I've always had a passion for sport and Mum and Dad made sure that academically I was diligent and hard-working," said Shand, who has a Bachelor of Physical Education degree and worked as a marketing manager for AJ Hackett Bungy in Queenstown prior to joining the Canterbury Rugby Football Union.
When he started with the union he worked as the sponsorship manager where his duties included the co-ordination and management of the successful "Team Canterbury" sponsorship programme which generated revenue for player retention and development. He is a former Canterbury NPC team manager and from 2000 until 2003 managed the Crusaders Super 12 side which collected two competition titles and a second placing.
Shand, who was the manager of the New Zealand A team which toured France, Wales and Romania in 2000, has been the ABs manager since February last year. His parents distributed the brains evenly in their family as his younger sister, Maria Clarke, is a sports lawyer in Auckland.
"She doesn't represent any of the All Blacks, so there isn't a clash there," he quipped.
It wasn't just hockey that Shand excelled at when at St John's College. He was a wicketkeeper-batsman in the school's 1st XI from his third-form year.
"I tried many sports and was a master of none," he laughed. Shand is naturally looking forward to "one of the biggest years New Zealand rugby will face - the Lions series, the Tri-Nations and then the end-of-year tour to Britain."
"There's a lot of anticipation and a lot of hype, which we can't afford to let the players get caught up in," he said. While the players should look no further than one game at a time, Shand's role is a little different.
His plans for the end-of-year tour are well under way and he has already been to Britain to check things out.
He makes no secret of the fact he still wants to have the ABs' manager job for the 2007 World Cup. If his first 17 months in the job are any indication he should achieve his goal.