The Irish rugby team will break with their tradition of warm weather training this year, prior to the start of their preparations for the Six Nations Championship, which begins on February 2nd in Croke Park against Italy.

The regular fare for the extended group of players, from which the Six Nations squad is selected, would be to travel to a warmer country, in part to rest and regenerate but also to continue training in a warmer environment where soft tissue injuries are less likely to happen. Lanzarote has been a destination of choice in the past.

But given the pre-World Cup training in August and the month-long stint in the competition itself in France, combined with the Magners Celtic League and Heineken European Cup matches, the plan to go away this year has been abandoned, even though it was pencilled into the Irish team's schedule.

"Not this year," said a spokesman. "There was pre-World Cup and then the World Cup itself and it was felt that the players have spent quite a long time together this year as it is. They will also be together for the Six Nations. So although it was in this year's schedule to do a warm weather stint it was knocked on the head."

The extended squad from which the Six Nations squad is picked will not be announced until after Christmas and no date has yet been set for that selection announcement. Normally the squad is assembled by Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan after the fifth round of the European Cup, which in 2008 is the weekend of January 11th.

Elsewhere, the review involving players and staff concerning Ireland's poor performance in the World Cup is still not with the IRFU and will not be until at least the middle of this month. As Irish rugby fans wait to see just what answers, if any, the review has come up with, an IRFU spokesman said yesterday that there is no specific date for the review to be delivered to Lansdowne Road and no specific date by which any information contained in the review will be made public.

In short, the review will not necessarily come into the public domain at all and if it does the IRFU will be selective in what information they wish to release.

"There were no specific dates given," said a spokesman. "There will be no gilt-edged document delivered to the IRFU. By the very nature of the review, it cannot be a public document. The IRFU have not put a time frame on it. When the report is assembled, people within the IRFU will assimilate the information and then make a decision."

While rugby fans can understand that many of the candid remarks possibly made by the players in the review should remain private, there could be significant portions of the report that should be made available.

That, it appears, will be left to the Union to decide.

"There is no time frame for the completion of the review or any element of the report," added the spokesman.

NZRU interview for All Blacks coach today

Interviews for the All Blacks head coaching position will be held today, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said yesterday.

A decision is not expected until tomorrow at the earliest.

Incumbent Graham Henry has been forced to re-apply for the position after his heavily-favoured team crashed out of the World Cup during the quarter-finals.

The 61-year-old is facing a challenge for the job from Super 14 coaches Colin Cooper (Wellington Hurricanes), Robbie Deans (Canterbury Crusaders) and Ian Foster (Waikato Chiefs).

Deans is widely considered by local media as the biggest threat to Henry and his coaching panel of Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith, having won four Super titles with the Crusaders, made two other finals and a semi-final in his eight seasons in charge.

He was also an assistant All Blacks coach under John Mitchell at the 2003 World Cup.

Board member Mike Eagle has been appointed to lead the selection process after chairman Jock Hobbs ruled himself out. Hobbs is Deans's brother-in-law.

The NZRU has also outlined the terms of reference for an independent review of its World Cup campaign.

The review, announced after the 20-18 loss to France in Cardiff, will be conducted by Auckland lawyer Mike Heron and leading sports administrator Don Tricker.