Steve Hansens explains why Josh Ioane didn't make his test debut against the Pumas
- 1621
The All Blacks survived a big scare against Argentina as they came narrowly close to suffering their first ever defeat to the Pumas in Buenos Aires claiming a 20-16 victory.
Rookie first five Josh Ioane was the only debutant not to feature in the clash with Luke Jacobson, Atu Moli and Braydon Ennor all came off the bench while Sevu Reece started.
With Richie Mo'unga left at home, along with a number of his Crusaders teammates, Ioane looked certain to make his Test debut however he was left on the bench as Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith both played full games.
Speaking to media after the victory, All Blacks' head coach Steve Hansen held his hands up over Ioane's lack of action, saying that the match situation wasn't right to introduce the youngster.
"As I said to him afterwards, it's not the game for you to be thrown into the deep end," Hansen said.
"The process with him is that it's going to take a little bit of time.
"We think he's a quality player, but sometimes if you chuck them in and things go wrong you can break them. So we weren't prepared to take that risk."
