Photos: All Blacks v IrelandKEY POINTS:
Daniel Carter may not be rushed back into the All Blacks when he returns from his long-expected announcement that he will play rugby in France - as he will have played for 18 months without a break by then.
Some time in the next two weeks, Daniel Carter's agents expect to sign off on his contract extension with the New Zealand Rugby Union and complete his six-month deal with most likely Toulon but possibly Biarritz.
Yet there's this nagging suspicion that getting Carter to France is in fact the easy bit. The hard part comes when he returns to New Zealand, which is likely to be in mid-June 2009, depending on what club he signs for and how far they progress in the French championship.
By June next year, Carter will have played 18 months consecutively without a break.
Only last week, All Black doctor Deb Robinson stressed again the likelihood of players having truncated test careers if they are not afforded an extended off-season.
It has been a message delivered consistently by the All Black coaches during the last four years as part of a wider package of player welfare initiatives.
Graham Henry has said since 2005 that if he picked the same players every week, they would barely be standing by the end of the year. After the Lions tour, there was talk from the panel that players really couldn't front for three consecutive tests if no rest week was built in.
So Carter's integration is going to challenge the strength of their convictions. The sabbatical was a quid pro quo for Carter signing on until the next World Cup.
At 26, he's only now coming into his best years when his physical prowess and tactical awareness are both running close to peak level.
The All Black coaches hope they can keep those dual facets of Carter's game at existing or improved levels through to 2011 and to do so, he presumably needs a good 10 to 12 weeks off when he returns from France next year.
That would mean missing the June tests and it would mean missing much of the 2009 Tri Nations.
Warren Alcock, who has been handling the structure of Carter's contract, says his brief didn't include detailing a re-integration strategy.
"That is more down to management," says Alcock. "But there have been discussions between Daniel and the All Black coaches and our guys in Auckland.
"Those guys [All Black coaches] have all had Northern Hemisphere experience, so we don't have any concerns or issues."
Last year, the All Black coaches were happy for Carter and 21 other All Blacks to be working away in the gym while their respective Super 14 sides suffered. Will they be so relaxed next year, though, if Carter is reconditioning in Christchurch when the All Blacks are required to play twice in South Africa?
The panel will be fiercely aware that they are off contract at the end of 2009. Carter will come home in June, probably fatigued but willing to play straight away.
Results will be everything and the temptation to pick Carter will be huge. But if they are to prove the seriousness of player welfare and convince rugby administrators around the world that the game - as it is set up now - really is killing the players, then Carter will be given all the time he needs to rest and rebuild and resume his test career when the time is right for him and not the All Blacks.
If they rush the golden one back into the side, they will instantly lose credibility. It will become transparent that welfare applies to some but not others. That if you are a world class performer and the guy next in the queue for your jersey isn't, then welfare ceases to be so important.
Kieran Read was denied a test call-up on the basis that longer term, he would be better served resting after an arduous Super 14 campaign and coming on the end of year tour.
With Jerome Kaino, Adam Thomson and now Rodney So'oialo all in contention to play on the blindside, it was a stance the selectors could afford to take.
It will be Stephen Donald and probably Stephen Brett vying to fill the temporary void left by Carter. No disrespect to those promising youngsters but clearly their inclusion in the starting XV ahead of Carter would weaken the All Blacks.
