All Blacks: Hansen needs hook to hang future on

Hika Elliot. Photo / Getty Images

With wildcards dealt with some ease by All Black coach Steve Hansen, it was intriguing he didn't manage to conjure something unpredictable at hooker in his wider training squad.

Across the board, there is an intriguing mix of old and new - Sam Cane to shadow Richie McCaw; Brodie Retallick to pressure Ali Williams; Aaron Smith and Tawera Kerr-Barlow to hurry up Andy Ellis and Piri Weepu - but in arguably the place where young blood is most needed, there is none.

The squad's two hookers, Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu, are by some distance the oldest in the group. Hore is 34 and Mealamu 33, and although there is life in their ageing legs yet, it would be dangerous to bank on them both being test material in 2013. They may even begin the descent this year. Mealamu, such a fearsome warrior and so committed, has been crushed by the weight of failure at the Blues.

His calf has misbehaved and there has been no sadder sight this season than his meltdown in Melbourne where he had an awful case of the throwing yips. The gamblers will be split as to whether he can bounce back or whether he's just hanging on.

Hore has played with the confidence of a man who knows he has nothing left to prove and who has been gripped by the infectious joy of being part of a liberating environment at the Highlanders. He's no longer an 80-minute man, though.

The big theme of the initial selection is regeneration, yet no seeds have been planted in specific regard to hooker. The answer as to why not is linked directly to the longevity of the incumbents. Hore and Mealamu have been around since 2002. They have just about been constant fixtures in the past decade, with only Anton Oliver able to stake regular game time ahead of them. It has pretty much been one starting and one on the bench for the past decade and, other than Oliver, no one had seriously challenged them.

Corey Flynn and Hika Elliot have covered for injury since 2008 but the former is 31 and has never quite cut it with his throwing or ball retention, while Elliot has been inconsistent since he impressed on the 2010 end of year tour.

Those two and Dane Coles are on the emergency pile - men the selectors feel they have a handle on without being convinced of their worthiness of a place in the squad.

"We already know a lot about them," said Hansen, in a comment that suggests what they are hoping for is an emerging talent to blast on to the scene in the next 12 months and give them an irresistible option; a dynamic young hooker who will establish himself as the obvious choice to succeed Hore and Mealamu and wear the No 2 jersey through to the World Cup.

This mythical creature hasn't surfaced but that shouldn't be seen as a cause for alarm. The lack of options at hooker is seen as a 'yet' problem rather than a 'never likely to happen' problem.

There are a handful of youngsters operating beneath the radar who are fancied to make the breakthrough in the next few years. Top of the list are the two Cantabrians, Ben Funnell and Codie Taylor, who were respectively in the 2010 and 2011 New Zealand under-20 squads.

Taylor in particular is fancied to make an impression in this year's ITM Cup. He scored a critical try in the Junior World Cup final last year and showed his potential earlier this year when he scored from a blistering run in a Crusaders pre-season game. He has the mobility and power to break tackles and carry strongly and, still only 20, he's got ample time to mature physically.

"I think there are young, promising hookers out there," says New Zealand under-20 coach Rob Penney. "It is just a matter of time before they come through."

The All Black plan would appear to be based on persevering exclusively with the two veteran hookers and call-up one of Flynn, Elliot or Coles should injury strike. At the moment, they don't want to commit a valuable place in the squad to someone they see as a definite third option and therefore unlikely to ever be in the match day 22.

By the end of the year, they may have changed their view. It is possible Elliot may have done enough to merit a call-up to see if he can put pressure on the incumbents. He's been around since 2007 but is still only 26 - far too young to be given up on. Ill-discipline off the field has cost him in the past but he's a largely reformed character and has been a prominent part of the Chiefs' resurgence.