All Blacks coach Ian Foster has hinted New Zealand Rugby could have a domestic competition of some sort prepared for when New Zealand eventually moves to Alert Level 2.
Foster answered questions today in an online press conference after naming Sam Cane as the new All Blacks captain last night when he was asked about seeing players in action for selecting his first squad as the new coach - a difficult task considering the current state of the game.
Covid-19 has seen rugby come to a grinding halt globally with competitions such as Super Rugby suspended and the July international Test window all but scrapped.
But Foster said there could still be ways for him to find his first All Blacks squad which he believes could play in December or even early next year.
"Going into lockdown, it was pretty frustrating because there was only the first part of Super Rugby," Foster said.
"If you went straight out of here into international rugby, it would've made selection pretty awkward but the positive stuff is that by going purely to a domestic competition early, which is what it looks like it's going to be, then we've got the best players on the park playing and we can go back and take a look."
Foster was asked if he had any insight on said domestic competition or any other developments in the works by New Zealand Rugby for the game when the country transitions to Alert Level 2.
His answer hinted something could be in the works.
"What I do know is that we've done a lot of planning behind the scenes for every scenario so once the Government announce something, I'm pretty sure that we'll be ready to say pretty quickly what we're going to be doing.
"It won't take too long to hear that."
When asked if he could offer more information, the coach simply grinned and replied with a blunt "na".
SHARE ME