That the All Blacks selectors are throwing the dice in naming four test debutants for the third test against France becomes more evident when the numbers are examined in detail – this is one of the most inexperienced teams they have ever picked and a world away from the 2015 World Cup final line-up.
That team, which finished well over the top of Australia at Twickenham for a back-to-back success, contained 1339 test caps and was the most experienced side ever to play an international, with men such as Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith leading the way. It had an average age of 28.9 years.
Tomorrow the All Blacks' 23 players charged to finish the series against the French on a bright note contain just 617 caps; 46 per cent of the experience possessed by the class of 2015. It has an average age of 26.2 and contains four debutants, starting blindside flanker Shannon Frizell and centre Jack Goodhue and back-up loose forward Jackson Hemopo and first-five cover Richie Mo'unga.
A victory against France is a non-negotiable as always for Steve Hansen and company but becoming more and more important a year out from their World Cup defence is the need to build depth. In Japan they won't have the capacity to select a team which contained the experience of 2015, but they have to start somewhere and they have decided it's going to be under the roof in Dunedin.
Crusaders pair Goodhue, 23, and Mo'unga, 24, have the look of long-term prospects with the composure to match their physical ability. With depth already in the midfield in the form of Ryan Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown – who started the first two tests of the series – Hansen didn't have to pick Goodhue but felt compelled to.
