The first All Blacks camp is in Mount Maunganui. Coach Ian Foster speaks to the media about the perks of the region, new players and how he stays motivated.
OPINION:
An observation...
Over a couple of croissants and coffee this Wednesday morning was a stark reminder of both the commercial muscle and the potential distractions that can either make or break the All Blacks, especially in a World Cup year.
In many ways, they’re a military-like operation and thathas helped breed success – meetings at this time, media in that window, training at a certain time, sponsor commitments all to squeeze in.
But the commercial demands continue to grow for the All Blacks as New Zealand Rugby integrates into life with Silver Lake and the spun-off commercial entity. The Rugby World Cup jersey launch on Wednesday pre-dawn was a strong reminder of how the dollar can dictate terms.
Five high-profile players, media, influencers and NZR and Adidas invitees gathered in an Auckland event room before dawn to launch the new jersey, with interviews and photos to complement the new kit.
It wasn’t entirely clear why it was so early – although some suspicion was to leverage into European markets. I haven’t put it to coach Ian Foster, but I reckon a 7am jersey launch probably wasn’t what he would have liked the players to be doing before their first full training session of the year and 10 days before their first match.
Balancing the commercial environment and the need to give sponsors bang for buck, along with the high-performance imperatives, is a fine line.
That only increases with more and more of the side’s key sponsors having a limited New Zealand presence – think Lipovitan-D, the sponsor of the Rugby Championship and of New Zealand rugby, a product that doesn’t appear to be readily even available in New Zealand. This means offshore trips to where these companies are based, which makes pleasing the sponsors sometimes just as much of a commitment as playing rugby.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster during a training session. Photo / Photosport
A prediction...
Speaking of commercial imperatives and disruptions, what odds the Just Stop Oil brigade try to disrupt an All Blacks Rugby World Cup match this year given the association the team has with Ineos? Say what you want about the protest group and I’m of the view anyone invading a sports field or someone’s workplace gets what they deserve, but they do seem remarkably good at obtaining tickets to events. Taylor Swift fans next year in Australia should also be on guard given their hit rate.
A suggestion...
Until Eddie Jones selects one of his supposed ‘utilities’ (backs that can play as forwards and vice versa) in a proper run-on side in an unfamiliar position, we can probably assume he’s foxing.
A question...
If that was the kind of abuse Ben O’Keeffe copped when he – according to his boss, the NZR head of referees Chris Pollock, had refereed mostly a good game – imagine the kind of messages he would get if he’d had a shocker?
Secondly, there’s a certain laziness that seems to emanate from some New Zealand rugby fans, especially those armed with a social media account not featuring their own personal details, that can’t be bothered learning new rules or seem to think the referees should take a vibes-based approach. Worse is when they were clearly pointed to evidence to the contrary and continued to double down.
