Steve Hansen beefs up All Blacks for tour ties

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has called up 19-year-old outside back Rieko Ioane to the squad for their tour of the United States and Europe.

The world champions, who became the first top-tier nation to win 18 consecutive test matches with their 37-10 victory over the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday, kick off the tour against Ireland at Chicago’s Soldier Field on November 5.

They face Italy a week later in Rome, Ireland again on November 19 in Dublin, before rounding out the tour in Paris against France the following Saturday. Hansen said the tour represented another step in the “re-establishment” of the side following the loss of six stalwarts, including all-time greats Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, after the 2015 World Cup.

“We welcome in Rieko, who has been picked for the first time. He has shown tremendous abilities and deserves his opportunity,” Hansen said.

“Younger players will get more experience within the All Blacks environment, and it’ll allow the selectors and coaching group to keep working on blending the mixture of young talent with the more experienced players in our group.

“This will allow our game to continue to improve and will help ensure the team is future-proofed.”

Sam Whitelock could miss a chunk of the tour after picking up an ankle strain against Australia, while fellow lock Brodie Retallick will undergo concussion protocols this week after picking up a head knock.

Sonny Bill Williams, Charlie Ngatai and Nehe Milner-Skudder were not considered for the touring party due to injuries.

The 36-man squad has a combined 1,157 test caps and is captained by number eight Kieran Read. After setting a new mark for consecutive top tier victories, the All Blacks are now closing in on the overall test record held by Cyprus, who won 24 straight by beating the likes of Austria, Bulgaria and Luxembourg before their streak was snapped by Latvia in November 2014.

“That’s the next horizon isn’t it,” Hansen said after the historic six-tries-to-one hiding of Australia crowned New Zealand’s domination of major rugby playing countries. You have to win all the games between now and the end of the Lions series so it’s a big challenge.”

Meanwhile Hansen has called for a ceasefire in verbal warfare with Wallabies counterpart Michael Cheika which has plunged trans-Tasman rugby relations to an all-time low.

In a sensational aftermath to Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup series finale in Auckland, Cheika took aim at New Zealand media over being depicted as a clown and then claimed the All Blacks did not respect the Wallabies, suggesting they were involved in the caricature.

Seething after being portrayed as an angry clown in a mock up picture in the country’s biggest paper, the New Zealand Herald, alongside the headline “send in the clowns”, Cheika let rip in an extraordinary rant after Australia’s 37-10 loss at Eden Park.

Hansen hit back at a “sulking” Cheika and said he needed to be bigger than to take a newspaper’s barb to heart and that it was wrong to suggest the All Blacks could dictate what the media did.

But on Sunday Hansen softened his stance and extended an olive branch to Cheika for the good of rugby in Australasia.

“For a long time the relationship with Australia has probably been a little frosty and maybe we need to sit down and have a beer together and sort it out.”

It comes down to the fact that the Bledisloe Cup means so much to both teams and when one team’s having a dominant period like we’re at the moment, the other team really gets frustrated. It’s how you deal with those frustrations and how you handle yourself when you’re winning, I guess, is important. This week we’ve tried to play a pretty straight bat and not tried to aggravate anyone. Our media didn’t help with the clown thing but that’s the media. It’s not us.”

Hansen said he had empathy for Cheika. “I lost 10 Tests in a row with Wales and it was tough. Of course you get hurt by it,” he said.

Whether or not Cheika buries the hatchet remains to be seen. He was still stewing upon his arrival back at Sydney airport on Sunday.

“Why would you let the opposition call your team clowns and mock the jersey? That’s how I feel about it,” he said. “Maybe others don’t. Maybe that’s not the way. But I’ve never had an Australian jersey so I think it’s something that should be treasured. We’re going there for a good contest and I think they (All Blacks) are connected to it (the photo mock up) obviously because they are talking about it. That’s my opinion and I’m entitled to voice my opinion, right or wrong.”

New Zealand squad:

Hookers: Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Liam Coltman; Props: Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Owen Franks, Joe Moody, Ofa Tu’ungafasi; Locks: Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Patrick Tuipulotu, Samuel Whitelock; Loose forwards: Sam Cane, Elliot Dixon, Jerome Kaino, Steven Luatua, Kieran Read (captain), Ardie Savea, Liam Squire, Matt Todd; Scrum-halves: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, T.J. Perenara, Aaron Smith;

Fly-halves:

Beauden Barrett, Aaron Cruden, Lima Sopoaga; Centres: Ryan Crotty, Malakai Fekitoa, Anton Lienert-Brown, George Moala; Outside backs: Israel Dagg, Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie, Waisake Naholo, Julian Savea, Ben Smith.