All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster feels it's as hard to pick a team now as it's ever been before Saturday’s showdown with Argentina in Nelson.
The All Blacks need to balance winning, freshness, blooding talent and World Cup plans, and are wary of changing too much this week in Nelson.
A new city, a new ground and quite possibly some different combinations, but Foster is wary of changing too much this week.
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"It's not just about the guys that haven’t played," said Ian Foster. "It's about some guys get better and better, as they’re in the saddle more and more.
"You’re trying to balance that the whole time."
First-five Richie Mo'unga's a case in point. Beauden Barrett is the star, so they've been building Mo-unga's test experience running the water in the Bledisloe Cup.
"As a coaching group, we felt he would benefit from hearing the talk in the huddle - the tactical side that he’d have some input in.
Uncapped halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi hasn't been thrown into the deep end either. He's been with the squad all season, but won’t be played for the sake of it.
"The way you're going to play well on a Saturday is if you start mastering Sunday to Friday. That's where we want to see growth in those young players."
If the longer term prospects do play this week, senior men like Ben Smith will assist by communicating clearly at training.
"That really helps, when you get out on Saturday, that you’ve already talked about it during the week and you’ve got your processes right," said Smith.
And the end of year tour could bring more talent to groom.
"We're looking hard at Mitre 10 Cup at a certain list of players. Whether they know who they are, its probably better that they don’t - they just have to go and play well.
There's plenty for All Blacks coaches to juggle between now and the World Cup.
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Join us at 7:30pm Saturday for live updates of the All Blacks vs Argentina Rugby Championship clash in Nelson.
