All Blacks are proof it's good to talk

Letter from NZ: An odd week, an uncomfortable week and, we hope, a one-off, soon to be consigned to history. Stand-offs between players and media are mutually unhelpful, and the media should never become the story, or even part of it. The game is, and should always be, about players.

"Normal" working practice has been resumed after Tuesday's walk-out by the Irish media corps in response to the restrictions placed on one journalist. Both sides feel they made a stand, but neither will be inclined to claim a victory, Pyrrhic or otherwise. As the song goes, "It's not funny that we don't talk anymore." Or something like that.

It should never have come to this. As others who've experienced soccer as well as rugby would generally testify, rugby as a sport and its players are a relative dream to deal with.

Of course, some players will have occasional run-ins with journalists over something written or said, but virtually to a man, they are courteous, co-operative and helpfully talkative.

Certainly, one could never imagine, as happened to a football-writing colleague, an Irish international player rejecting a polite and maiden request for a short interview with two words, the second of which was "off". Irish footballers are higher-paid, and perhaps history has taught them to be more wary of the media.

Rugby is changing, mind. Brian O'Driscoll is assuredly the biggest star Irish rugby has ever had, and Munster's recent European Cup win has raised the profile and marketability of Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer and co. This was the most successful year in Irish rugby for at least two decades, and but for one defeat in Paris would have been the golden year of all years.

That there are a dozen in the present travelling media corps reflects these relatively good times. But with that greater interest among the public, and thus the media, the Irish rugby squad have become less accessible, a trend that originated around the time Keith Wood's captaincy was given fuller reiunder Eddie O'Sullivan.

There is now, from the IRFU and Irish management down, a palpable and increasing mistrust of the media that is unwarranted. Tuesday's events were a manifestation of that, though O'Sullivan himself yesterday stated: "Firstly I have to say I hadn't any hand, act or part in that. It wasn't my decision, it was the players' decision, and I was informed of it after they made the decision. But I would support the players in it 100 per cent. I think it's their decision to do that and I will support the players in that.

"I support the players' principle. They made a decision and I support them on it. It's very simple. Once they informed me I said that was fine, I appreciated being informed about it."

Nevertheless, compare and contrast the All Blacks' media schedule with Ireland's these past two weeks and generally. Ireland provide no access to players or management on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays - either for the journalists who have travelled or the home media.

On Tuesdays O'Sullivan hosts a press conference to announce his team, followed by one with O'Driscoll as captain, after which selected players are brought in to fulfil interview requests. On Fridays, O'Sullivan and O'Driscoll host a joint eve-of-match press conference, as they also do after Saturday's game, before maybe four or five players appear for interviews. And that's it.

A post-match "catch-up", with all the coaching staff, the day after games was introduced during this season's Six Nations but has been abandoned, despite requests by the "daily" media for it to be continued. Access for the travelling Irish photographers has been increasingly pared back in recent years, often limited to just the first 20 minutes of selected sessions.

The All Blacks allow photographic and television access to their Monday sessions, and pitchside interviews with three players. As an aside, they asked the Irish journalists to leave Waikato Stadium for the last hour of last Monday week's session but allowed the home media to remain.

On Tuesday, Graham Henry and his assistant coaches, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, hold a press conference to announce their team. On Wednesday the entire starting XV are made available for interviews, as would happen as a matter of course with, say, French and English teams.

On Thursday, Smith hosts an updated press conference, followed by Henry and the All Blacks captain on Friday. After Saturday's game, Henry, Smith, Hansen and the captain host a press conference, after which virtually all the players are made available in an interview room. (In France, journalists are given total access to the home dressing-room after club games.) On Sunday, Hansen hosts a catch-up conference.

That is something seven days per week, and the All Blacks are not unique. Wales do likewise.

Think back to the All Blacks' visit to Ireland last November, highlighted by that trip to Letterkenny in Donegal to commemorate the birthplace of Dave Gallaher (the Irish-born captain of the 1905-1906 Originals) and is it any wonder they hogged the Irish media that week? Curiously, the IRFU don't appear to attract particularly proactive sponsors like Heineken, save for AIB at club level.

Yet coverage of this tour is competing with other sports back home, and this summer clashes with the World Cup. Furthermore, O2 have recently come on board as main jersey sponsors of the Irish team, reputedly worth €16 million over six years.

And yet the New Zealand media complain about their lot.