Classic Hansen.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen named his first squad of the season late last night, with a number of uncapped players called up.

One name however, not in his squad is Hurricanes captain Brad Shields, who recently accepted a call-up from England head coach Eddie Jones ahead of his impending move to Wasps next season.

Shields’ position has been a huge talking point in recent weeks, with New Zealand begrudgingly giving Shields their blessing to play for England while still contracted to the New Zealand Rugby, taking a pop at England in the process.

Now Hansen has gone and thrown a huge spanner into the works – stating Shields “probably” would have made the All Blacks squad had he bothered to stick around. He also made it clear that to be an All Black you’ve got to “stay resilient”, perhaps suggesting Shields wasn’t willing to tough it out.

“It is obviously one of those positions… he probably would have made this team this year. I wish him all the best. He wants to play Test rugby, he obviously didn’t see a future here.” Hansen told Newstalk ZB

That’s the thing about the All Blacks – you’ve got to stay resilient because you are always up against someone else as good if not a little better. If you are not prepared to wait for the opportunity and keep working at it you are not going to get it.

That’s my point to the people who have missed out today – we used 54 players last year and we won’t just use 33 this year. Someone will get an opportunity and if they mentally stay in the game, stay in the fight through being resilient with how they prepare and how they play on game day, they will get that opportunity.