Seeds of a new breed of black

BY TOBY ROBSON IN LONDON

Wayne Smith reckons the self reliance of the country's farmers used to flow through to the All Blacks performance under pressure.

Fencing, dealing with problems like flood and drought, the cow cocky knew how to think on his feet.

In modern times many young players had a more one-dimensional focus as they strived for a career as a professional sportsman.

Provincial teams have been littered with those who have put their studies or work to the side to focus on rugby and its taxing physical demands.

But there are signs that the allrounder is back in vogue.

In the current touring squad, many of the players have children and are studying toward a career after rugby.

Late bloomers like Mike Delany have life experience beyond the rugby field and even rookie Ben Smith had travelled abroad and worked before being called into the professional ranks.

There is even one farmer in the All Blacks in hooker Andrew Hore, who joked this week that he wished London's rain was falling on his arid central Otago land.

"Our first involvement as a national union is at the under-17 level and that tournament is an important one for someone like me to go and start looking at the players, but it starts a long way before that," Smith said from London this week where the All Blacks prepared to play England.

"It starts with in-depth interviews with people who know them, their first XV coach, their principal.

"Our high performance team run that and they will do background stuff on them so we have a fair idea of the kid as a person, what his needs are when he gets into the system.

"I'm amazed by the amount of background work that's going in now to help these kids. It goes through to the under-20 level too.

"When we go along to the camp or the trial at a camp we have a fair idea of the person, the character. Knowing they have ticked that box, then it's a matter of looking at them as players."

Smith baulks at the suggestion kids from the wrong side of the blocks might be disadvantaged by such an approach.

"There are certainly restrictions in the involvement in academies, but it's not so much the grades you get, it's your involvement.

"In other words they have to be involved in study or work and there's no out on that. The result is kids coming through now are pretty well balanced. They have a lot more strings to their bow.

"It's a unique industry in that respect because you don't expect a surgeon to also study architecture just in case they don't make it as a surgeon. It's a good model. It's well applied. There are obviously kids who fall through the cracks and become rugby jocks, but very few now."

The high performance system has been criticised in the past for being fairly narrow in its focus, simply identifying the best young athletes and putting them on the production line.

That's produced great athletes, but the All Blacks World Cup failures suggest they have not always been fully equipped to deal with decision-making under intense pressure.

Smith believes that is improving.

"It's about how we can help them. It was like that a generation ago where you seemed to get on a treadmill and it was hard to get on it and bloody hard to get off it.

"I think there is a really wide network of talent ID now that throws up kids from all over the place."

Smith accepts that character does not necessarily translate into a good rugby player. However, he is convinced a better-rounded individual will be able to cope better with adversity on the rugby field.

"I put a lot of store on values but I haven't necessarily seen a big correlation between talent and character. There have been some great players who didn't necessarily tick that box.

"But for the good of the team you are trying to get players to be strong in their values, show good character, not be arrogant. I think those things are important for a team.

"I think the more you can be self-reliant in life and in your thinking be able to solve problems, the better that will transfer to the rugby field.

"The great All Blacks of the past were farmers who fenced, who solved problems and were able to transfer it to the field. In many ways we are trying to replicate that but obviously they aren't farmers any more," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News