All Blacks: Christmas wish list

Graham Henry will be out to extend his run of wins in November. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The All Black squad to tour Japan and Europe was named this morning. Gregor Paul details the key objectives to be achieved.

1. Cultural Revolution

Player empowerment is top of the agenda for the forthcoming All Black tour. Senior players will be encouraged to have a greater say on how the team operates on and off the field.

Giving the players greater influence and control of team affairs was the formula that kick-started their golden run at the end of 2004. There is a desire to restore that culture of empowerment on this tour.

The last few weeks have seen All Black management meet senior players to plan how the team should be governed and what style of rugby should be played.

All Black manager Darren Shand says more will be revealed today but much time has been devoted to reviewing leadership roles, match preparation and ways to give the players greater input into team affairs.

Some of this has been driven by the return of Dan Carter, whose presence has boosted the confidence of the squad and given the team the on-field director they lacked early in the season.

The other key driver was the quality of performance in Wellington after the senior players asked for, and were granted, a greater say in the way the team trained and played.

"We have spent some time looking back to see what things have worked and what haven't," said Shand.

"You have to look at everything but the most important thing is how we play the game.

"We have tried some different things and I think it is hugely important that we [coaches and players] are aligned with a clear vision of what we are trying to do. We are certainly encouraging players to take a greater stake."

2. Style Gurus

The impact of the current rules and the effect on the style of football played has become a hobby horse this season of Graham Henry.

He's never wanted to build a one-dimensional side that relies solely on brawn and the boot. His vision has its origins in the 1970s Dutch football side who played total football - he wants 15 athletes who can pass, run, catch, ruck and tackle.

His devotion to expansive football is admirable yet, at times this season, has been misplaced. Presumably, what has been agreed as a result of the extensive reviews of the season so far, is that the All Blacks cannot conquer the world without first building a set-piece platform.

Discussions with the senior players are believed to have concluded that point. But nor are the All Blacks about to emulate South Africa. The rugby played on this tour is expected to be similar to the style employed against France in 2004. In that game, the All Blacks scrummed the life out of their opponents, were all over them at the lineout, hammered them at the collision and worked the ball out of the tackle. Carter played for territory and, when the French defence was scrambling, they used width and brought in the strike runners.

It sounds so unbelievably simple, obvious even, that it is puzzling the All Blacks haven't been able to reproduce this style in 2009 except in patches against Australia.

Somehow the game plan became confused in too many minds this season, particularly against South Africa. They need to find a balance on this tour - beauty and the beast is the aim - where they beat teams up first and then slice them open using the like of Carter, Ma'a Nonu and Mils Muliaina.

The senior players will be charged with keeping minds focused on the field; making sure the hard work is done first. But there also needs to be a greater on-field awareness as to when the tempo needs to be raised; where the space is and also counter-attack opportunities.

3. Perception is Everything

If the All Blacks are to successfully implement their chosen style of rugby on this tour, the forwards need to find their mojo and Steve Hansen has to prove his value.

It's been a tough year for assistant coach Hansen. The forwards were blown away in their first tests this season by France and the lineout has been a tragedy slipping into farce.

The All Blacks have a reputation to protect, especially in Europe, where they still hold this mystique; this aura that leaves most Six Nations' players certain they are inferior.

This mental baggage is worth plenty to the All Blacks. It's a big part in undermining the Six Nations who have it locked into their heads there is no such thing as a poor All Black.

The All Blacks have to sweep through Europe on this tour leaving no hint of set-piece vulnerability. Whatever else they do, they have to display the highest standards in the lineout, scrum and breakdown.

Which puts the pressure back on Hansen, as they will encounter four sides who, while riddled with flaws, will all present a stiff challenge at the set-piece and collision.

This is Hansen's chance to at least douse the fires that have burned this year suggesting he's the weak link in the coaching triumvirate; a third, punctured, wheel.

One of the most damning critiques of his capabilities has surfaced in Wales, where former analyst to the Welsh Rugby Union, Alun Carter, has released an explosive warts and all book.

Carter, a former openside test player, was the head video analyst for the national union for 12 years, working with Henry, Hansen, Mike Ruddock and Warren Gatland.

Hansen comes off badly, with Carter asserting that the All Black forwards coach had no appreciation of the importance of the set-piece in test football.

Carter uses the pre-World Cup hammering by the All Blacks in 2003 to illustrate the problems Wales endured under Hansen.

"We were beaten up both physically and in a footballing sense by New Zealand, con-ceding 74 per cent possession and winning the ball only nine times in the first half.

"We made a massive 190 tackles and missed 36, which was unfortunately typical of our inability to win and maintain possession. The test average was around 130 tackles but we would regularly have to put in 150 simply because we couldn't win the ball. We didn't tend to see much of it and when we did, we weren't trying to play with it in the right parts if the field."

4. Selection Twists

The selectors will already have mapped out their playing XVs for each test, or certainly they will have for the first two tests.

With five tests on consecutive weekends and a game against the Barbarians, there will be an inevitable level of rotation.

The test against Italy and the Barbarians match sit as the obvious places to answer a few key questions:

* Is Tamati Ellison a test quality centre?
* Who is the back-up fullback to Muliaina - is it Colin Slade or Cory Jane, or maybe Israel Dagg will be named this morning? One of those three needs to start against Italy.
* Can George Whitelock come through as the successor to Richie McCaw?

5. Jason Eaton

Is he a lock? Is he a lock who can cover blindside? Is he a blindside? Do the selec-tors have a clear view on that? Does Eaton know where he fits in? Eaton's No 1 objective on this tour has to be to prove that he is a test-class lock. And to do that, he has to break into the starting XV.

There is no Ali Williams, no Isaac Ross and no Bryn Evans. Brad Thorn, Anthony Boric and Tom Donnelly are expected to be his competition. Now that's an opportunity to revive a career once rich with promise.

Donnelly has one cap and Boric has missed much of the season.

It's now or never for Eaton. If he can't win a starting berth on this tour, where will he rank when Williams, Ross and Evans come back into the frame?

It's been a confusing year for Eaton. He missed All Blacks selection for the Iveco tests - instead being pushed to the Juniors as a blindside.

While he was being told to develop as a loose forward, he also heard the All Black selectors talking publicly about their desire to build core skills locks who weren't hoping to act as pseudo loose forwards.

So maybe Eaton should focus on nothing more than showing he can win lineout ball; that he can be accurate at kickoffs and that he can clean out bodies from the breakdown.

His versatility only becomes relevant if he can prove first that he's a test lock. If he does that, then he holds an advantage over the other contenders.

But can he really cut it as a blindside? Former All Black selector Peter Thorburn is confident Eaton has the ability. "He's done enough to deserve a fair go," says Thorburn. "I think he can play blindside at that level. He's handled everything that has been thrown at him. He's got the skills at the breakdown to turn over ball and he has the height to add another dimension to the lineout from blindside."

Since making his debut on the 2005 Grand Slam tour, Eaton has moved the wrong way.

The image of him thundering all over Lansdowne Road in his first test is hard to recall. The time has come for Eaton to move forward.

6. Special Project

We will find out this morning whether Henry has found room for a "special project" - a wildcard player taken more for the experience with a view to being nurtured for the future rather than for immediate impact.

Many names have been bandied about but one stands out. Aaron Cruden is the one who best fits the bill. Longer term, New Zealand needs a high quality first five to take over from Carter. That is the most pressing need - plus an openside successor for McCaw.

For all the hype and for all his obvious talent, Cruden is still a long way short of being ready for test matches.

What he does have are the core, innate, uncoachable skills. He reads the game superbly. He has a sharp tactical brain, makes bold decisions and knows how to run a game.

What he lacks is length on his kicking game and some upper body bulk to deal with the bigger units that will charge down his channel during Super 14.

Should he stay home and condition over the summer or would he be better spending six weeks on tour with kicking coach Mick Byrne, shadowing Carter, conditioning under the watchful eye of All Black trainer Nick Gill and playing against the Barbarians?

Surely it has to be the latter.

7. Record Breakers

With numerous peripheral objectives, it is important the most important goal is not overlooked - returning undefeated. The All Blacks have a staggeringly good record in November tests under Henry - they have not lost in 16 tests.

They haven't lost a November test since 2002, when John Mitchell's under-strength squad lost to England at Twickenham and drew with France in Paris. In the 29 November tests the All Blacks have played in the professional era, they have lost only two. They have won 25 and drawn two.

That's a record the squad will be determined to protect but more importantly is the need to improve this season's return.

In nine tests, they have won only five - losing three times to South Africa and once to France. If they clean sweep this tour, they can end the season with 10 wins from 14 tests - a 71 per cent success ratio.

That's well down on last year's 86 per cent but a reasonable return given the injury toll, the quality of the Springboks and the relative inexperience of the All Blacks side.

Henry revealed in this paper ahead of the Tri Nations: "We are likely to get beaten which is a horrible thought but it is a greater possibility. I don't think that is going to be a bad thing.

"No one wants to lose test matches - that is not the intention but if it happens, it will probably be good for us."

Four defeats in one season is enough. Any more and it will be hard to find positives to take from 2009.