Tana Umaga is a 'realist'

All Blacks captain Tana Umaga admits that it was initially disappointing to hear that the All Blacks would not be taking part in the NPC, but with the expansion of the Tri-Nations and the Super 12 competitions from 2006, it was no longer realistic to expect the country's international stars to take part in the domestic competition.

And the AB skipper said that he was firmly behind the expansion plans put forward by SANZAR.

"I'm a realist. I expected it. For us (New Zealand rugby) to get what we wanted, we had to give. We wanted more money, I think, in the end, which is what it's all about," Umaga told NZPA.

Umaga said that players could not be expected to shoulder so much - with Test matches and a Super 14 leaving little room for anything else. Australia does not have a Provincial tournament of note, while the South African's Currie Cup begins earlier in the year.

The NPC, however, is sandwiched between the Tri-Nations and the ABs annual year-end tour of Europe, leaving little time for New Zealand's elite players to recover sufficiently before the arduous trip overseas.

"I have come to realise in my old age that you just can't do it. You can't back up from competition, to competition, to competition and expect to play at the optimum level every time."

"The Currie Cup, that's nearly finished now, so they'll have a bit of a break before the end of season tour, Australia have been finished for a while, so they will be fizzing, they have that enthusiasm to get back there.

"It's all well and good to say 'you play for the All Black jersey', but I'm sure if you ask any top athlete, they don't peak for 12 months of the year.

"Being a traditionalist I was very disappointed about talk of the All Blacks being out of the NPC, but a year on ... that was last year. This year I have kind of seen why.

"Hopefully people will come to realise that, but it won't be overnight and people will be disappointed, but that's life."