Wynne Gray: Plenty to work on as Bledisloe beckons

Test rugby is sneaking up fast. Although the immediate focus is on the Super Rugby semifinals, it's only three weeks until the All Blacks start their Bledisloe Cup defence.

Coach Steve Hansen will be grateful more of his test men get a rest after the Crusaders-Hurricanes semifinal tomorrow but he'll have some concerns about sharpening others whose teams have fallen by the wayside.

Rieko Ioane and Sonny Bill Williams have not been sighted through the playoffs after the Blues' woes while Sam Cane looked sluggish in his return from injury, Karl Tu'inukuafe needs footy and Joe Moody is damaged. That's just for starters.

Half a dozen automatic All Blacks are playing tomorrow in Christchurch but the rest are on gym, fitness and rehab programmes designed to get them primed for the August 18 start to the Bledisloe in Sydney.

That has to lift the apprehension levels alongside the improved work of the Wallabies in their absorbing series tussle against Ireland last month and the continued progress of those players who are still alive with the Waratahs in Super Rugby.

The All Blacks regained the Bledisloe Cup in 2003 and have held it since. They confirmed that supremacy last season with a huge win in Sydney then a gritty repeat in Dunedin before they were beaten in the final trans-tasman test in Brisbane.

Any talk of a dead rubber does not wash with the All Blacks. They were not up to it on the night while the Wallabies brought a more cohesive edge to their approach and inflicted the last defeat on the No1-ranked side in the world.

It was a season when the All Blacks struggled to find their best rhythm through the Lions series, the Rugby Championship and the tour to the northern hemisphere with two losses and a draw in 14 tests.

However, the upside was they used a dozen new faces in tests and tour games and added significantly to their understanding of those players with their grasp on rugby at the highest level and added another layer to their deep pool of talent.

Even more made the cut in June — Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Jordan Taufua, Shannon Frizell, Tu'inukuafe and Jackson Hemopo — to give the All Black selectors more detail to place alongside their instincts. They've all been in camps and know what the coaches expect and how they have planned their season structures.

Injury will come into the equation but the selectors have more ideas and a broader group of players have been through the induction phases when the tough calls have to be made for the Rugby Championship squad.

Difficult choices will be in areas such as fullback where the questions are about whether Ben Smith brings his best form and direction to the side in that role or whether he has to shift so Jordie Barrett can play.

Has the pecking order changed between Damian McKenzie and Richie Mo'unga as next best five-eighths to Beauden Barrett and will Scott Barrett's skills be used as backup lock and blindside flanker?

The anticipated return of captain Kieran Read is massive. No one comes close to his range of play from No8 when he is cracking out his best and that, alongside his leadership, draws much greater sting from his colleagues.

He's looked fine in his truncated return after back surgery but a recurrence of some wrist trouble was a warning for all about relying totally on the skipper.

Read may last every game but settling on a compelling understudy will be high on the selectors' wish list before the Bledisloe Cup starts.