Beauden Barrett chases a loose ball for the Hurricanes last year. Photo: Getty ImagesHurricanes assistant coach John Plumtree has confirmed his team never expected to field their leading All Blacks for the upcoming Brisbane Tens. "We were never led to believe that we were taking any All Blacks, to be honest," he told Radio Sport's Darcy Waldegrave. "I think the All Blacks coming back into it aren't quite fit enough yet, certainly not compared to the other boys that have been training for two-and-a-half months. "Obviously they want the best players they can have at the Tens, but having a lot of tired All Blacks, tired Australians or tired South Africans is not going to do the tournament any good."

Source: Otago Daily Times January 25, 2017 19:19 UTC