Defending champions.

All Blacks boss Steve Hansen has named his 31-man World Cup squad for Japan – with a number of big names missing out on selection.

Prop Owen Franks has paid the ultimate price for a recent drop in form, while there’s also no place for centre Ngani Laumape and back-row forward Liam Squire.

Hansen preferred four centres ahead of Laumape – Anton Lienert-Brown, Sonny Bill Williams, Jack Goodhue and Ryan Crotty, with the latter three picked despite recent injuries.

Kieran Read will once again captain the All Blacks.

“This Rugby World Cup looks like being the most fiercely-contested yet with a large number of teams all believing they can win.” Hansen said

“This will bring possibly more pressure and expectation on them than ever before and it will be interesting to see who can and who can’t cope with it.”