Rugby: New kids in the black

Brodie Retallick is currently the most consistent lock in New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images

If there were doubts about Steve Hansen's appointment, many will surely have been erased by the selection of his first squad, which was stunningly bold and ambitious.

Hansen has made it clear he's not one for the middle ground - he'll work at the extremes; trusting those he knows have delivered and backing those who he thinks can.

There will be a generation of lost players as a consequence. The entire middle tier, those who hold a 'nearly man' status, might as well pack up and head offshore now.

They are not part of the Hansen vision and, while that will be making Super Rugby coaches squirm and wriggle, it will give Hansen's All Blacks half a chance at immortality.

Renowned for his honesty and clarity with the players, Hansen has extended that to the rest of his stakeholders by selecting a squad that is as much about preparing for 2015 as it is about winning tests in 2012. That's beyond doubt.

Just days after the All Blacks won the 2011 event, Hansen was talking about the chance to make history by becoming the first side to successfully defend the crown.

Some of the players may still be living in the past and struggling to move on from those heady seven weeks of 2011 but Hansen has been mentally dynamic, shifting his focus almost immediately to the mist-covered peak of 2015.

The mistake so many defending champions make is to cling to the ageing war horses.

England had an average age of close to 30 when they won in 2003 and 12 of their squad made it back for 2007.

The South Africans were guilty, too, of misplaced loyalty last year, retaining John Smit as captain when he was so clearly a cooked goose.

Hansen has seen the danger early and won't make that same mistake. He's not a gambler - can't see the sense of shutting his eyes and hoping that those in their late 20s now will all somehow make it through to 2015.

Some will, some won't, and the All Blacks can't reach late 2014 and realise they suddenly have to inject a raft of young, inexperienced players. It's in dealing with this inevitability where the Hansen vision became seriously bold.

He could have selected the likes of Liam Messam, Tanerau Latimer and Rudi Wulf - experienced Super Rugby campaigners who have been in and around the All Black squad.

These men would have provided security, safe options to do a job, should they be required.

But legacies aren't created by offering places to men who are only ever going to be back-up material. There has to be competition and to create that, some future projections must be made.

Brad Shields has been identified as a potentially better blindside than Messam. Sam Cane will offer more than Latimer in time. Julian Savea could soon offer all that Wulf does and more. So why wait until 2013 or 2014 before selecting these men?

"We've started that process by bringing in some people. Luke Whitelock is possibly one of those and Brad Shields is possibly another," said Hansen about the need to make changes to the team given the age of some key players.

"We feel, at some point, they will don the All Black jersey and why not bring them in and let them experience the huge expectations and the feelings that go inside that camp.

"I'm a great believer that if you've got Triple-A players, then you need to have people who are capable in the long run of becoming Triple-A players."

Hansen's squad is about seamless transition; it's about creating an environment for evolution, while not sacrificing the present.

There is always edginess this time of year about the All Blacks' prospects. Those intensify when there is a new coaching group. But short-term, the All Blacks have the makings of a half decent side.

They will miss the bone-crunching resilience of Brad Thorn and Jerome Kaino, and Richard Kahui's big game temperament and defensive authority will be hard to replace.

There is still enough firepower, though, to be confident of quality rugby and victories being collected along the way. They are an ageing side, rather than an old side, and if Hansen and his coaching team can successfully revive the under-performing Blues quartet of Ali Williams, Piri Weepu, Ma'a Nonu and Keven Mealamu, then the All Blacks look well equipped to maintain the win ratio achieved under Graham Henry.

The trickiest thing for the coaching panel will be assessing when to introduce the emerging stars and on what scale. Brodie Retallick would be the highest priority to get into action - he's the one who already looks ready and has been the most consistent lock in the country.

Cane is probably the next man who needs to be eased into the set-up. Victor Vito, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read seem the likely starting loose trio and there is enough versatility there for Cane to be selected on the bench.

Expect him to make 20-minute cameos, with McCaw shifting to blindside or No 8.

Carter may be asked to also shift at times to accommodate Aaron Cruden. There shouldn't be any confusion - Carter will start at No 10 but may slide to No 12 later in tests so Cruden can build his experience.

Aaron Smith has earned the right to see if his game can work at the next level and he may alternate on the bench with Weepu throughout June.

The remainder of the emerging talent will most likely have to wait until the end of year tour to get some significant tastes of test rugby.