All Blacks squad short of a lock

Jerome Kaino is set to be cover at lock for the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Nick Reed

This is the time where we all love to play All Black selector. The time where, with the benefit of hindsight, we try to pick holes in the squad and add our own variations.

Truth be told, I wasn't surprised by a single member of the 31-strong All Black squad picked last night, and really have to sift through the bones to find anything I'd have done differently.

About the only point of difference I would have with Hansen, Foster and Fox - and this might sound strange coming from a former No 9 - is I would have seriously considered taking just the two halfbacks and using that spot to bulk up one of two areas where we look a little thin.

That's not to take anything away from Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who has done a magnificent job of getting back into the selection frame, but it is the one area I would have debated hard. In the end I might have gone down the same route as the selectors because I think TJ Perenara needs somebody over there putting pressure on him as back-up to Aaron Smith. For argument's sake, if we went with two halfbacks, where would you use the extra spot?

The most obvious place is at lock. I'm not too keen on the idea of a hybrid playing in the second row in a semifinal or a final, where you know it's going to be tight. The All Blacks are at their most effective when they're shifting bodies at the breakdown to give Smith the quick ball he and the rest of the backline thrive on. Our locks, particularly Brodie Retallick, are renowned ball players, but in the latter stages the core role of shifting bodies and smashing rucks is going to be more important.

I don't see Kaino as a lock. In fact, if you look at the way they wrote the team down, they probably wrote four locks and Victor Vito was the fourth one. In that respect he's probably the 31st guy picked and won't play a lot over there. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him picked in the No 4 or 5 jersey against Namibia, just to reassure the selectors they have made the right call, and he becomes the back-up lock-loosie for the rest of the tournament.

The other area I would have looked at, was whether the third halfback spot was better used on another outside back, either Charles Piutau or Cory Jane because they are versatile enough to play any of the back three positions.

I only bring this up because I look at Waisake Naholo and Nehe Milner-Skudder and see one guy coming back from a potentially serious injury and another who is starting to look a little injury prone. I love the freshness and dynamic ability of both players but wonder if we need one more body to cover there.

Naholo and Milner-Skudder, along with hooker Codie Taylor, are the only players who come close to being called bolters and the only departure from the selection norm, where big-game experience is often favoured.

They have been able to select these guys because they have developed depth so well since 2011, while retaining a core from that team that won the Webb Ellis Cup. Even someone like Beauden Barrett, who I'd still consider young and hungry, has 26 tests of experience to call upon.

Barrett is another player who made the selectors' job easier because of his ability to play multiple positions.

When they wrote the heading "Fullback" and had Ben Smith's name on top, it would not surprise me at all if Barrett was the consensus choice as the country's second-best fullback.

Slade's versatility and pressure goalkicking ability made him the obvious choice for back-up first-five, which meant the selectors then had to choose between Dan Carter and Lima Sopoaga as starting No10. This call was probably closer than anybody realises.

I caught up with Foxy before the Bledisloe Cup test at Auckland and without giving away any secrets, he made it clear DC needed to have a big one after Sopoaga proved he could handle the pressure at Ellis Park.

That in itself is not a bad indication as to how much depth we have in the country.