ABs to make terror plan

All Blacks, from left, Dane Coles, Israel Dagg, Sam Cane, Tom Taylor, Aaron Smith, Colin Slade,Charlie Faumuina and Charles Piutau, lined-up for the the national anthems before the Bledisloe Cup rugby

Security concerns over UK rugby tour.

The All Blacks will this month meet Rugby World Cup organisers over security arrangements for next year's event in England and Wales.

Terrorism is a real threat in the UK, and tournament organisers and All Blacks will prepare accordingly.

All Black manager Darren Shand and managers and officials from other international teams will attend a conference with England Rugby 2015, the World Cup event organisers, after the All Blacks' final test of the Northern tour against Wales.

Shand said the UK terror threat level had been on "high to severe" for the last couple of years and that hadn't changed recently.

Confirmation of the talks come just four days after Prime Minister John Key announced New Zealand would dispatch up to 10 military planners in the multi-national effort to defeat Isis fighters in Iraq.

Rugby World Cup 2011 boss and former NZ Cricket chief executive, Martin Snedden said there would be two parts to the security preparations.

One is the security around the venues and the team bases, he said, which would depend on the risk assessment.

"More significant is the security arrangements not put in place by the tournament organisers but by the Government security agencies ... You'd have to be really confident they know what they are doing and the All Blacks can be reassured by that."

Although the All Blacks might not be used to having armed bodyguards around them, Snedden said they probably wouldn't be fazed.

At the 2007 Rugby World Cup, a team of armed crack French police - dressed in replica All Black kit - guarded the men in black.

"In the middle of the Rugby World Cup, they're very zoned in, not completely oblivious but largely oblivious to what's happening outside their bubble."

Snedden didn't believe New Zealand's involvement in the war on Isis would make our sporting finest greater terror targets.

Shand said security discussions would not just be about potential terror threats.

The other factor related to the security and comfort of the nation's players and was quickly brought home in Chicago last week before the test against the USA - the management of well-meaning supporters.

"In Chicago last week it went from quite manageable, and the team could wander anywhere publicly, to quite unmanageable in the space of two hours," Shand said.

"[The team's hotel lobby] filled up with Kiwis and you couldn't move. It took Dan Carter half an hour to walk from the lift to the lunch room."

One of the more noticeable security changes to the All Blacks in London this week was the beefed-up presence at the hotel following last year's breach when an English journalist wandered into a team room and noted down the messages on a whiteboard, including the All Blacks' apparent aim to be the "most dominant team in the history of the world".

There was no chance of that happening again.

The International Rugby Board did not respond to interview requests.

The pending talks in England come just two weeks after international security experts ordered New Zealand cricket bosses to increase security ahead of next year's Cricket World Cup.

Security consultants hired by the International Cricket Council met custodians of the seven grounds to host match action in the February and March tournament, co-hosted by Australia.