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
https://t.co/2S5gMaiibR— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 12, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments