Steve Hansen Explains Why He Dropped Jerome Kaino From His All Blacks Squad

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

All Blacks boss Steve Hansen Jerome Kaino has been rested this weekend for their Bledisloe Cup opener against Australia, as opposed to being dropped as many had been led to believe.

Kaino, who is a veteran of 81 Test matches, was a surprise omission from Hansen’s squad with Liam Squire being preferred in his place at blindside flank. Hansen says Kaino’s time needs to be managed after a long season.

“It’s a long race, it’s not a short race,” Hansen told TVNZ.

“Clearly JK’s not getting any younger. We’ve got to look after him for a long season too.

“At the back end of this year, in the last nine weeks, we go around the world twice, play seven test matches and 10 time zone changes.

“You need most of your squad, or as many as you can get, still feeling somewhat fresh, so we’ve got to manage them as well as we can.”