"I think we've had something like 17 injuries this year so there's been plenty of opportunities for everybody to get rugby. It's been going along quite seamlessly, really, and experience - there's not a lot of 50-test players but there's quite a few with 10, 20, 30 test matches - and that's more than enough to be able to get the job done properly."
Players such as Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Ben Smith are into their 20s in terms of test caps, while Owen Franks, who hasn't played since injuring his groin against Argentina at La Plata on September 29, has 51. Ma'a Nonu has played 85 tests.
Hansen added of the emerging talent: "It's exciting ... there's no doubt about that. But it's all got to be managed, you've got to make people feel like they're valued and to get the best out of them being valued is important.
"It's an opportunity to show we do value them and an opportunity to say 'righto, we've got four or five leaders staying at home, we've got to fill that breach, here's your opportunity to step up and do that and have a different type of experience building into a test match'."
Who better to learn that from than McCaw and Carter?
- APNZ
