Rugby: No special treatment for Highlanders (+ video)

Ian Foster.
Ian Foster.
Any chance of the Highlanders players getting special treatment, as far as wearing the black jersey on home turf on Saturday night, has been dashed.

All Black assistant coach Ian Foster said yesterday the side selected to play under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium would be one right for the game.

Foster said where the side was playing was not considered when the side was selected.

"I would love to say yes because the Otago people would love me ... but once the players come in they are All Blacks. Our job is to make decisions on what we think is the best for the team,'' Foster said yesterday.

"So we don't actually factor in at all whether it is a home ground or not. To be honest, it is purely about where the team is and how they are performing in the camp and when the time is right for them to go. So if people get a chance to be an All Black it is because they have earned it, not the ground they are playing on.''

With the side up 2-0 in the series, game three would be the one to make some experiments.

But Foster said making changes would be for the good of the long-term health of the team.

"We are looking at how to grow our squad. All along we want to put the best team out on the park in the here and now. What we also want is to make sure is we have got the best team going forward to cover any injuries.

"That is the balance we are looking for ... we are assessing how the guys are going who haven't played and if we put them in is that going to lift our performance. That is our primary driver.''

Foster said he was pleased with the way the new players had performed in camp.

"It has been quite impressive, really. I think a lot of it comes down to the energy provided by the leadership group ... they are working hard to provide an environment where the players can come in and learn and thrive and relax at the same time.

"You have seen a couple of performances where we haven't probably been as relaxed as we would have liked to have been on the park but that is natural when you have got a new group when you are learning more stuff and you've got a test match going on.

"The plan is to get a little bit more relaxed and free as we go on during the series and things become a little bit more instinctive.''

Foster said centre Malakai Fekitoa sat out the most of training yesterday due to cut on his head while Aaron Cruden was moving freely.

The scans on Cruden's neck, taken after he was stretchered off the field on Saturday night, had come back clear, Foster said.

Halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow had impressed at training yesterday and, provided he got through tomorrow's training run, may be considered for selection.

The All Black team will be named tomorrow morning.

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