Wallabies get four camps for Hong Kong

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Monday, 29 September 2008

The Wallabies won't lack for preparation ahead of their final Bledisloe Cup test against the All Blacks with Robbie Deans assembling his players for four training camps while Graham Henry will have his entire squad together for just the week in Hong Kong.

The glaring differences between the rugby scene in both countries at this time of year impacts on the preparations of the two national teams.

With New Zealand's Air New Zealand Cup approaching the business end of the tournament the bulk of the All Blacks are set to filter back to their provincial teams this weekend and for October's playoffs that culminate in the Labour Weekend final.

The All Blacks touring squad won't be named till the Sunday after the final and the players jump on a plane for Hong Kong on the Monday.

With no national championship in Australia and the club scene now completed, Deans has the top players to himself and he's making the most of that opportunity.
The Wallabies assembled in Sydney today for a four-day camp.

A further three are planned and will be invaluable to Deans who has brought in several new faces to his 34-man touring squad.

Both the Wallabies and All Blacks fly on to Europe after their Hong Kong test.
The Wallabies play Italy, England, France and Wales as well as a tour-needing clash with the British Barbarians at the new Wembley Stadium.

The All Blacks are facing another grand slam opportunity as they play Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England on consecutive weekends.

In the middle of that they have a midweek fixture with Heineken Cup champions Munster in Limerick

The All Blacks are likely to take a similar number players north as the Wallabies and will use the opportunity to blood new players on tour to further a season of rebuilding for the test team.

Just who might be available for any pre-tour gatherings will largely depend on the makeup of the Air New Zealand Cup playoffs that start next week.

But the All Blacks will have to approach Hong Kong and the tour without the luxury of the mass camps that the Wallabies have planned.

The Hong Kong test is a dead rubber as far as the Bledisloe Cup is concerned with the All Blacks having already retained the massive piece of silverware with a 2-1 lead in the four-test series.

But there is a huge amount of pride on the line for the test at the neutral venue.
And both the New Zealand and Australian unions will be desperate to make the match a success as a spectacle as they look to vindicate their decision to take it offshore and also as a way to attract new markets for similar ventures in the future.

The Wallabies would love nothing more than to end the year 2-all against the All Blacks just as New Zealand would relish the chance to snare a 3-1 count against the old enemy for the first of the annual Deans-Henry series.

The All Blacks will also have to work out how they prioritise that test in terms of matching it up against the grand slam attempt and how they manage the workload on their leading players with tests on five consecutive Saturdays.


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