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Adam Thomson lines up for the All Blacks - Source: Photosport -
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New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens believes the Commonwealth Games is the perfect stage for four former All Blacks to re-launch their international careers.
Tietjens told ONE News the campaign could help Zac Guildford, Ben Smith, Adam Thomson and Hosea Gear get back into the All Blacks for the World Cup.
It is a possible silver lining, along with a gold medal shot in Delhi in October, for a group of players that had largely been overlooked by the All Blacks selectors this year.
Thomson had been an All Black regular for the past two years and was initially named in the squad for the June Tests against Ireland and Wales, but has since seen Jerome Kaino, Victor Vito and Liam Messam preferred for national honours.
The 28-year-old's situation has also been compounded by playing for a struggling Otago side in the ITM Cup, but Thomson is determined to turn his predicament around.
"For me, it's not about running away, it's about turning up doing the work, working on those goals that I've been told to work on," Thomson said.
The new breakdown interpretations haven't helped the big loosefoward either. Last year he was considered among New Zealand rugby's best turnover exponents, but the new evolution has seen that skill made almost redundant.
As a result, he has been asked by All Blacks coach Graham Henry to adapt his game and Thomson sees the Commonwealth Games as the perfect arena to launch a new and improved running game.
"My major work on now is getting my hands on the ball again, getting out there and being a ball runner," he said.
The other three "outcasts" - Guildford, Smith and Gear - are set to benefit from Tietjens' gruelling and infamous training regimes, which continued this week with a two-day camp in Auckland.
"(They) all have that natural ability and probably relied a lot on that, but now they've got to get out and also apply themselves with a lot of hard work and they're doing that," Tietjens says.
Guildford and Smith already have a high work rate in the 15-a-side game but Gear, who is probably considered to be the unluckiest of the four not to be part of the Tri Nations squad, should benefit the most from the Sevens environment.
"I think it will be good for my XV games, just with the repeated speed, and it will help me get my work rate up and fitness levels up as well," Gear said.
All four former All Blacks are expected to get a chance to show-off their newfound Sevens mentality for their respective provinces in ITM Cup action this weekend.
