Coach Steve Hansen will have been warmed by the rugby he observed in two fierce New Zealand derbies.Photo / Getty
It may have been a weekend of extreme rain and dank cold, but the cockles of All Black coach Steve Hansen's heart will have been warmed by the rugby he observed in two fierce New Zealand derbies.
Most, nearly all in fact, of the players he welcomed into camp this
morning flicked an invisible switch and suddenly looked hungrier, livelier, more accurate, more intense and, most importantly, a damn site more like the quality test players the coach knows them to be.
The timing was perfect - and not just because the focus will be on the national side for the next three days as they work together in Mount Maunganui. In the background is the ongoing battle to restructure the season, to give the players a calendar that no longer demands too much of them.
In arguing for change, Hansen has consistently said that test players can't hit top form in February and hold it through to late November. His expectation is that they start to shine, to dominate Super Rugby and make their presence truly felt in May. And right on cue a handful of key men turned their respective dials from mute towards full noise.
On Friday in Wellington, Liam Messam and Victor Vito, the incumbent, battling blindsides were physical and influential. They were noticeably amped. Beauden Barrett, patchy and defensively frail for much of the season, found an air of authority that had been missing, while Aaron Cruden, appeared to have finally shaken free from a knee complaint and was skipping and hopping like the imp he is.
