Malakai Fekitoa could be on the edges of All Blacks selection. Photo / Getty
Malakai Fekitoa could be on the edges of All Blacks selection. Photo / Getty
Telling good players they have missed selection remains the worst part of the job for All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
Which means he is facing a difficult period as on June 8 the All Blacks will reveal their squad to play the Lions and there will be a surprisingly longlist of quality footballers who don't make the cut.
There's a few reasons the casualty list will be higher than normal. The first is that there is significant depth in most positions.
Dynamic duo: Malakai Fekitoa celebrates with Ryan Crotty in 2014. Photo / Getty Images
There are also a number of first choice players who are short of rugby which means Hansen has to be wary of having too many undercooked starters in the first test.
Dane Coles is almost a separate problem again as he will be named in the 33-man squad but doesn't have any conditioning behind him yet alone game time.
Normally the All Blacks would risk going through a home series with two hookers, now they are going to have name three - probably Coles, Codie Taylor and Nathan Harris - and that will squeeze out others elsewhere.
Who exactly misses out will depend on how Hansen thinks he can best juggle his resources.
With Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino and Liam Squire all coming into the series on the back of six-week lay offs and unlikely to have played before the first test, Hansen has to be wary of his loose trio running out of puff at Eden Park.
Read will start and Sam Cane will be on the openside but the No 6 jersey might have to be given to Steven Luatua who is in solid form and Kaino used off the bench with a view to starting him in the second or third test.
The need to carry three blindsides could see Matt Todd miss out as Ardie Savea is perhaps the better bench option and Cane will start all three tests.
All Blacks forward Steven Luatua may have done enough for an All Blacks recall. Photo / Brett Phibbs
With Luatua, Squire, Kaino and Read all potentially named, the selectors may, however, feel they can keep Todd in the mix and instead be frugal at lock where Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick tend to play 80 minutes and back them up with just Scott Barrett and one of the loosies. That would see both Patrick Tuipulotu and Luke Romano miss out.
The other major pressure point is going to be the midfield where there won't be room for all of Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty, George Moala, Malakai Fekitoa and Anton Lienert-Brown.
Williams has played himself back to convincing form and Crotty is such a dependable and accurate operator that the selectors will find it hard to look past these two as a starting combination.
Sonny Bill Williams has played himself back into All Blacks' contention for the Blues. Photo / photosport.co.nz
The puzzle after that will be working out what the best way to stack the bench will be to ensure there is both midfield and back three cover.
That will likely mean one of Damian McKenzie or Jordie Barrett not making it into the squad, possibly both and only two from Moala, Fekitoa, Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane being picked.
