All Blacks considering extraordinary options to stay safe on tour
Skipper Sam Cane has revealed the extraordinary options the All Blacks are considering – including hiring an open-top bus – to try and avoid derailing their end-of-year tour to the USA and Europe due to the ongoing threat of Covid-19. Cane is heading to Washington ahead of the rest of the squad for the October 23 Test with the USA in the inaugural 1874 Cup, a game that leads into matches against Wales, Italy, Ireland and France.
Coupled with their recent Rugby Championship-winning campaign in Australia, it means the All Blacks will have spent three months away from home operating in a bubble by the time they return to New Zealand. That will be at the end of November and everyone on the tour will then have to endure a quarantine period in a hotel before being allowed home.
Cane, who suffered a broken neck in 2018 and has just endured another six months out for shoulder reconstruction, has confirmed that all of the All Blacks tour party are fully vaccinated. However, they must follow strict guidelines for the tour which means endless hours in the various team hotels in the USA, Wales, Italy, Ireland and France.
In an effort to minimise the mental strain on the players, the All Blacks have established an entertainment committee that has already come up with possible ways of trying to normalise their time on tour while still minimising the threat of a positive Covid test.
Cane explained: “We have to be really diligent with sticking to our bubble and even though we are vaccinated, we cannot afford to increase the risk of getting Covid and derailing this tour. Due to competition rules, the format and what we have got ahead of us we just cannot afford to run the risk of anyone in our team contracting Covid because we would be stuck there for two weeks and that would affect the whole tour.
After a week off to reflect on their shortcomings against the Springboks, the All Blacks have identified where they can improve for their upcoming end-of-year tour. #AllBlacks https://t.co/YeVw0Dxz9z
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 13, 2021
“We are looking at things to minimise those risks as much as possible. We will have to find other ways of getting out as a team and there have been discussions about maybe hiring a rooftop bus (to go sightseeing) or booking out a whole restaurant as a squad and we have created a small entertainment committee who will have a big job ahead of them to accommodate those sort or interests.
“Other than that we will be between the hotel, gym and training field. The hard part is that we are not going to be able to interact with fans as we would normally do but that is how things are at the moment in our camp at the moment. No doubt our All Blacks social media will be actively trying to connect with the fans and give an insight into what we are doing.
“The guys who have been in Australia will have a few things organised and there are five of us coming over to add a bit of energy. We normally have a day off on a Wednesday and it will be about keeping people busy, and we have to be each other’s family and will become super close during this trip. There will be times when guys need their own space but we will do our best.”
Cane, the fit-again All Blacks back-rower, even had to rip up his own plans for spending time in Washington. He had hoped to take in an NFL game, watch some basketball and college football but knows he has to stick to the rules. “The team has been in Australia for close on seven or eight weeks and there are a few of us who have been back in New Zealand and I am joining the squad with Sam Whitelock, Shannon Frizell, Dane Coles and Josh Ford.
“We will be in Washington a few days before the rest of the squad, having watched the Rugby Championship from afar. I was looking forward to watching an NFL game in Washington this weekend but we have to stick to our bubble for the entirety of our trip. We will have to park up in our hotel and watch the NFL game (from there).”
Just making the tour after breaking a bone in his neck and then suffering a serious shoulder injury in March makes his selection and regaining the All Blacks captaincy from Ardie Savea a personal triumph for Cane. The All Blacks’ 31-29 loss to South Africa in their final Rugby Championship match has ensured the squad are totally focussed on the tough tour schedule having seen their ten-game winning run ended.
Cane added: “In the last three years I have had a bit of a bad run with two major surgeries and both of them were very different. When I hurt my neck it was a really unfortunate accident and, believe it or not, the recovery wasn’t too bad physically but there were a few mental hurdles being around the neck. Then I had shoulder reconstruction in early April and it has pretty much been six months.
“I have been really driven to nail the rehab process and get back playing rugby and give myself a shot at playing for the All Blacks again. This tour has been in the back of my mind and a real focus during the rehab which took about six months. It is a real bonus to give myself this chance.”
It's the notional tournament that club fans really want to see happen 🌏#SuperRugby #URC
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Comments on RugbyPass
you know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
227 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
227 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
227 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
19 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
19 Go to comments