Club and country

I've read that Jerome Kaino might be playing a lot at the back of the scrum this season for the Blues to make room for the Braid brothers at openside and blindside. Whilst I'm not all that keen on the idea of Kaino moving to number 8, given he does so well at 6, I do like the idea of him being familiar with the position in case of injury to Read. When So'oialo left, there seemed to be a void in terms of people capable enough to take over the role. Then Kieran Read came along and we all wondered what the fuss was about. When he was injured last year and didn´t become available for the ABs until the quarter final, those alarm bells began to ring again. Kaino getting familiar with that position adds cover that makes us supporters sleep better at night.

Meanwhile Richie McCaw won't be back in action until at least April. That again is good news from an AB point of view. I think the man deserves a rest after all and it gives us a chance to get Matt Todd some regular games under his belt because I think this guy could be an heir apparent in the AB backrow. Similarly Carter won't be coming back straight away so around the country we get a chance to see other flyhalves put their hand up for selection (not sure when Slade and Cruden are expected back. Any Kiwi posters know?).

Then I also read that there will be two enforced breaks for the ABs during the Super season to come together for training in preparation for the 3 test series against Ireland. It's such a demanding schedule first up for the ABs that Hansen has got his team released from Super duties in order to prevent as much rust from setting in as possible because they will have to be near their best to keep their record against Ireland.

This to me illustrates the benefit of having centrally contracted players who answer to the NZRFU rather than the clubs and why NZ must keep their policy of not selecting players who go overseas. There is probably already too much test rugby each year so to add on too much club rugby doesn't make much sense. England and Wales have decided to stop selecting players playing outside of their respective nations but still their hold over the clubs is not exactly vice-like. How much of an influence do you think this has on the national squad?