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If openside flanker Daniel Braid survives this week of rugby he looks a strong candidate to crack a 57-test personal intermission and return to the All Black squad for the start of the Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies.
However the 27-year-old will have to get through Auckland's
Ranfurly Shield defence tomorrow against Poverty Bay in Gisborne and club rugby this weekend to confirm he has recovered his fitness and form after being troubled by a calf injury throughout the Pacific Nations Cup.
Braid has not played for the All Blacks since the 2003 World Cup campaign when one of his coaches was the now transplanted Wallaby supremo Robbie Deans. Since then Braid has missed out to the talents of national skipper Richie McCaw, Marty Holah, Rodney So'oialo and Chris Masoe as openside flanker.
With Holah overseas, Masoe unwanted and So'oialo on the back of the scrum, Braid looked the logical cover for McCaw when the All Blacks captain badly injured his shin in the Christchurch test against England and was ruled out of action for at least six weeks.
However about the same time, Braid suffered a calf strain on the Maori tour and Masoe was whistled up as cover for the All Blacks though he failed to make the bench in either of the last two tests.
Masoe's inclusion looks temporary while Braid started his comeback last week, training with the All Blacks in Dunedin before returning to duty in Auckland club rugby at the weekend.
"I'd say so, we'll wait and see," was forwards coach Steve Hansen's cautious answer to whether the All Blacks would persevere with their left-right flanker system rather than the openside-blindside roles which have been the traditional New Zealand scheme.
"That's a possibility," was Hansen's next cloudy retort to whether Braid would be a better answer to the Wallabies' roving talents of either George Smith or Phil Waugh.
The All Black selectors would have a better idea once they had seen how Braid survived his return to rugby this week. The Wallabies have Waugh and Smith who can play the roving role in concert with bigger backrowers like Wycliff Palu, Rocky Elsom and Hugh McMenamin.
Injured All Blacks skipper McCaw has started exercising again after damaging his ankle in the opening test against England but is not expected to be ready for a return to test rugby until at least the game against the Springboks in Cape Town.
This next test in a fortnight pits the re-elected All Black panel against Deans who took up the Wallaby post once he was overlooked for New Zealand. Hansen was quick to downplay any personal rivalry with the man who used to be his boss at the Crusaders in 2000 and 2001.
"There is no greater edge than playing Australia, no matter who is coaching them," he said. "It can't be a personal thing, it has got to be a team thing, we are just looking forward to playing Australia."
Hansen dismissed any notion that Deans might have an advantage because he knew how the All Blacks group operated, there were three All Black coaches who could pool their knowledge about him.
All Black coach Graham Henry seemed to be leaning towards a more conventional looseforward arrangement against the Wallabies after operating the new deal against the larger, less scavenging approach from Ireland, England and the Springboks.
"We could afford not to have a genuine fetcher but in the end we did not have a genuine seven who was fit to play in these two tests, who was an international player of genuine quality," Henry said.
Braid would play three games by this weekend and would "hopefully be fit enough then to play a test match," Henry said.
Masoe was in the squad as cover but the selectors had not been tempted to choose him for tests because they did not think he would add more than the looseforwards they had.
The All Black selectors have persisted with the left-right flanker combination this season. It worked against the lesser opposition of Ireland and England but was not so effective against World Cup champions, the Springboks.
On Saturday the panel subbed No 8 Jerome Kaino after 53 minutes with Sione Lauaki, who scored a try almost straight away but then drifted in and out of the game. It has left So'oialo playing one side of the scrum and Adam Thomson dealing with the other, an arrangement the selectors have defended but does not appear to have been absorbed comfortably by the players or been a great success.
Meanwhile, Henry said they would persevere with new locks Anthony Boric and Kevin O'Neill, who they had introduced this season while they would also welcome back Brad Thorn after his week's suspension. There was some doubt about senior lock Ali Williams being ready for the next test against the Wallabies in Sydney in a fortnight.
Williams had suffered concussion in a head clash on Saturday with Springbok flanker Schalk Burger while he had also aggravated a long-standing ankle problem.
Henry said there was no temptation, at this stage, to reintroduce former All Black locks Jason Eaton or Ross Filipo who were returning from injury. Eaton had played some rugby but "not well enough" while Filipo had scarcely played.