All Blacks: What now for Julian Savea?

Julian Savea watches on from the sidelines during the All Blacks' second test defeat to the Lions. Photosport

Just over two years ago Julian Savea was the hero of the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, smashing through French defenders with ease to score a hat-trick in the All Blacks' 62-13 win.

It would have seemed unthinkable then he'd be omitted from a 37-man All Blacks squad a couple of years down the track, but the giant winger will have a rare November off this year after Steve Hansen didn't call out his name today.

Hansen instead has gone with six outside backs in his squad who together can't match the 54 tests played from Savea since his debut in 2012.

Uncapped Matt Duffie joins David Havili, Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo and Seta Tamanivalu in the outsides backs named for the end of year tour. A dynamic list of players considering Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Jordie Barrett and Nehe Milner-Skudder are all out of the tour.

Savea at his powerful best on one wing and the raw speed of Ioane on the other has the potential to make one of the most lethal wing combinations in rugby history. But it's something rugby fans will have to wait another six months for any chance for it to happen.

Savea signed a four-year extension with New Zealand Rugby in 2015 and played 11 tests last season before dropping out of favour with All Blacks selectors before the Lions series. He did play in the third test draw at Eden Park, replacing Ioane who had the flu, putting in a patchy performance that saw him drop the ball cold with a free run to the tryline.

The All Blacks wanted to see him do more at provincial level and he's found form, as well as some on-field responsibilities, captaining Wellington a number of times as the Lions marched into Saturday's final against Bay of Plenty. According to Opta stats he was 17th in metres gained, 20th in defenders beaten and didn't even feature in the top 25 for line breaks during the Mitre 10 Cup season.

The All Blacks still seem to want to me more of the Savea at his rampaging best. The Savea that scored more tries at the last World Cup then seven teams could manage. The one that has amassed 46 tries in his 54 test outings.

The may see it up close fairly soon. English media have tipped Savea as an option to play for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in the opening match of the tour on November 5, with reports saying the winger will make the trip following Wellington's appearance in the final at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

However Hansen said part of the reason they didn't pick the 27-year-old was because of the impending birth of his first child.

"We're really happy with how he's going but it's a long term plan with Jules. He and his wife are due to have a baby shortly so we want him to have a big off season. Those two things combined with us thinking 'stick with the plan and let's have us look at some other people'," Hansen said today after naming his squad.

That leaves Savea with some work to do in between changing nappies over the summer months before the start of the Super Rugby season. Much like Hurricanes teammates Milner-Skudder and Jordie Barrett, he'll be out to impress the selectors before the next All Blacks squad is named for the three-test series against France in June.