He was dropped from one squad, but former All Black captain Taine Randell will be going to the Rugby World Cup after being thrown a TV commentary lifeline.
In 1999, he led the New Zealand team out on to the playing fields at the World Cup.
This year, he will commentate about eight matches and appear as a panelist with former teammate Jeff Wilson.
Randell said he had put the disappointment of being dropped by TV3 behind him, and was looking forward to linking up with Wilson, Martin Devlin, Andrew Saville and Simon Dallow at TVNZ.
"It's worked out fantastically," he said.