All Blacks coach Graham Henry wants to rest several players before RWC 2011-Rugby News
The All Blacks rugby coach, Graham Henry, has vowed to rest several key players during the Tri-Nations so they are ready for the forthcoming Rugby World Cup 2011. The veteran coach of the All Blacks revealed his fresh designs in a media interview today on
July 14. The coach argued that almost all key players from New Zealand were engaged in the grueling season of Super Rugby and further load could affect their performance in the largest rugby event this year.
The All Blacks coach is well aware of the importance of this year’s Rugby World Cup as they are hosting the tournament, which will start in September. The New Zealander side has not won any world showpiece since 1987, which was the first event of Rugby Union’s
history. New Zealand won the Webb Ellis Trophy as co-hosts with Australia.
Already, the long season of Super Rugby 15 has negatively affected the fitness of Springboks players. Springboks coach, Peter de Villiers, revealed last week that as many as 23 of his players will not be available for the opening two games of the Tri-Nations
Cup 2011 due to fitness issues. Australian Rugby Union asked SANZAR to probe into the matter because they felt the nature of the injuries was suspicious. SANZAR looked into the matter and declared the player genuinely injured and laid to rest the speculation
that the Springboks were trying to give their players a break before the RWC.
The All Blacks Graham Henry told the media that many of his key players need a rest before Rugby World Cup 2011. He further said that, "I think a lot of them are overdone at the moment. Take the Crusaders for example. They have been all over the world and
have been playing on a lot of emotion. They can't maintain that level of intensity for the next three months. So even though we're going into an international season, we're going to have to bring the players down to bring them back up again. That's going to
be a major challenge."
He also said that, "I think we need to take each individual as an individual and work with them to make sure they're the best they can be come the World Cup,"
All Blacks coach Graham Henry is expected to announce his team for the Tri-Nations Cup 2011 this week.
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