All Black squad for end of year tour

The All Blacks selectors, Steve Hansen, Ian Foster and Grant Fox, have selected their squad for the 2017 All Blacks Northern Tour to the UK and Europe for Tests against France, Scotland and Wales and matches against the Barbarians and a France XV.

The squad features four uncapped players: dynamic 20-year-old Wellington hooker Asafo Aumua; skilful North Harbour outside back Matt Duffie; and physical Tasman prop Tim Perry and talented Northland midfielder Jack Goodhue, who both trained with the All Blacks squad earlier this year.

Several players weren't considered for selection for the tour due to long-term injury and other reasons, including hooker Liam Coltman, props Owen Franks and Joe Moody, lock Brodie Retallick, and outside backs Jordie Barrett, Israel Dagg, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Ben Smith.

Hansen said six All Blacks, who have carried heavy workloads this year, will not play the first match of the Northern Tour, against the Barbarians. Instead, they will spend a few more days at home to freshen up and join the All Blacks touring squad later next week. Those players are Captain Kieran Read, hooker Dane Coles, prop Wyatt Crockett, lock Samuel Whitelock, and midfielders Anton Lienert-Brown and Sonny Bill Williams.

As well as the 37-man squad, the All Blacks selectors have also announced that five additional players will play for the Barbarians in the first match of the Northern Tour and then assemble with the All Blacks for the French leg of the tour.

Those players are Otago loose forward Dillon Hunt, Waikato prop Atunaisa Moli, who has trained with the All Blacks squad this year, Canterbury halfback Mitchell Drummond and his provincial teammate Richie Mo'unga, who was called into the All Blacks squad in Brisbane last week as cover; and Canterbury and two-Test All Blacks lock Dominic Bird.

The makeup of the 37-man squad sees 21 forwards selected (four hookers, six props, four locks and seven loose forwards) and 16 backs (three halfbacks, two first five-eighths, five midfielders and six outside backs) and has a total of 954 Test caps experience, an average of 26 Test caps per player and average age of 25.

The squad is as follows