Championship may be swansong for All Blacks

The Castle Lager Rugby Championship Saturday: Round 1Australia vs N.Zealand 11.30amS. Africa vs Argentina 4pmWELLINGTON. New Zealand open the Rugby Championship against Australia on Saturday with coach Steve Hansen still attempting the alchemy of continuing to produce a winning side while easing some of the 2011 World Cup winners into test retirement.Hansen, who led the All Blacks to the inaugural title last year, has had his contract extended through to the 2015 World Cup and began his second year in charge by noting that some of his older players would need to be moved on.Many of those players have already moved overseas, retired from internationals, or dropped out of the frame.Of the 33 who featured in the All Blacks World Cup winning squad two years ago, only 13 are in the squad for the Rugby Championship.Just five of those are backs, although winger Cory Jane is also likely to be involved when he returns from a knee reconstruction.Despite the rebuilding, some pundits have suggested the All Blacks may be starting to look a little long in the tooth as it stands with eight players in the squad aged over 30.Of those, flyhalf Daniel Carter has been ruled out for at least the first half of the tournament with a calf strain, while captain Richie McCaw is returning after a six month break from rugby.McCaw, however, is widely considered one of the fittest men in New Zealand rugby and history would suggest it will not take long for him to get back into the swing of international rugby.Carter’s absence for at least the two matches against the Wallabies is the latest in a long list of niggly leg injuries that have forced Hansen to label him a ‘red-flag athlete’, whose playing load must be managed carefully.