All Blacks attack coach: 'There are some challenges ahead of Sevu'

The All Blacks have made minimal changes to their squad from the Rugby Championship for the upcoming Northern Tour, sticking with the tried and tested, even if the tried and tested have fallen down the pecking order and out of the matchday squad.

Winger Sevu Reece is one of the handful of All Blacks who were left on the outside looking in after owning a starting berth to begin the Rugby Championship. Emoni Narawa took his place on the right wing in round three, before Leroy Carter stepped in when injury struck. Powerful showings from both Caleb Clarke and Leicester Fainga’anuku have made the left edge a more crowded selection prospect.

The All Blacks’ wing positions are famously a young man’s game, which made the 28-year-old’s selection in Monday’s squad anything but certain. But now, with his flights booked, Super Rugby’s all-time leading try-scorer has another chance to prove his worth.

All Blacks attack coach Scott Hansen shed some light on Reece’s status in the team.

“Firstly, just acknowledging the competition that’s there at the moment, you’re looking at the wingers and the performances we’ve had most recently, and they’re in form,” he told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB.

“You look at Leicester (Faiga’anuku’s) performance most recently, and you look at (Leroy) Carter around how he’s continuing to grow his game as an All Black winger. You’ve got Caleb (Clarke), who’s coming back from injury. So we do have a number of wingers currently putting their hand up.

“We’ve still got versatility in our squad, which we know, and Sevu is an experienced All Black. He knows what it takes to travel through Europe and the like. There are some challenges in front of Sevu, as there are for all the boys around getting that starting role.

“We know that he‘ll work hard for it. But that’s what the All Black environment should be doing. It should be creating competition. It should be hard to get into the starting 15.

“And for Sev, he’s got some feedback around where he can grow his game, what we need from him around our preparation week to help us prepare also as a 23, and there’ll be a big opportunity for Sev to put his hand up on this tour.”

The next generation of outside back talent is set to be named in the All Blacks XV squad on Tuesday, revealing which up-and-comers selectors see as the biggest threats to Reece and the top squad.

Taking a broader look at the upcoming tour, Hansen said the team was striving for a “continuation of the growth in our game.”

“It’s our ability always to be able to adjust during it,” he said.

“We’ve had some challenges this year, most recently around one or two performances, but ultimately, for us, it’s continuing to grow our game.

“It’s growing our set piece, the quality possession that we provide, having balance in our game around our defence in an attack, and ultimately, you want this group to be reaching its potential. And when we do that, what that looks like is a balanced game. It’s applying pressure in the right area of the field.

“We’ve had a good review of the most recent competition around where we can get some learnings, and fundamentally for us, that is about controlling possession.”