For the record I'm Welsh but have seen the whole super season and all the tests. This is the squad I would pick personally with who I reckon Hansen will go for in brackets underneath.
Props - Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Nepo Laulala
(Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Nepo Laulala)
Hookers - Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Keven Mealamu
(Dane Coles, Codie Taylor, Keven Mealamu)
Locks - Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Jeremy Thrush
(Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano)
Back Rowers - Richie McCaw (c), Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Sam Cane, Victor Vito
(Richie McCaw (c), Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Sam Cane, Victor Vito, Liam Messam)
Scrum-Halves - Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara, Tawera Kerr-Barlow
(Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara)
Outside Halves - Dan Carter, Colin Slade, Beauden Barrett
(Dan Carter, Colin Slade, Beauden Barrett)
Centres - Ma'a Nonu, Malakai Fekitoa, Conrad Smith, Ryan Crotty
(Ma'a Nonu, Malakai Fekitoa, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams)
Outside Backs - Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Charles Piutau
(Ben Smith, Julian Savea, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Israel Dagg, Waisake Naholo)
Call me conservative but you need a pair of locks covering, as well as a third half back. Imagine you get to the semi final of the tournament and both Brodie Retallick & Sam Whitelock go down injured in the quarter final. They both fit to play in the final if it is made however. If you only have Romano there, you have to play either Kaino or Vito as your second lock or you have to replace one of Retallick and Whitelock in the squad such that they can't play the final. Would you want to go into a semi final with a makeshift second row pairing? And that would occur only because you decided to take Messam instead of Thrush.
Messam isn't going to play in the big games realistically. I'd put Vito in as first replacement for both the 6 and 8 positions. He's more disciplined, his physicality has picked up, he's skillful and he's a superb lineout operator. SO considering this, float these two situations. If you pick Messam and you lose both of your locks and have to go with a combination of 4. Romano, 5. Kaino. OR if you pick Thrush and you lose both say Kaino and Vito have you to go with a combination of 6. McCaw, 7. Cane, 8. Read. I'm pretty sure the latter situation would be much less disastrous than the former. Plus Thrush has proven himself on multiple occasions for the All Blacks. He is undervalued in my opinion.
It's the same with the two half backs. Imagine both Smith and Perenara go down and miss the semi but are back for the final and you haven't got Kerr-Barlow there - I'm not even a TKB fan but he's better than Ellis and the other boys are clearly not getting a look in. You can either replace one of them key players and have them miss the final or you pick Slade at 9, which is what is being touted. Not ideal scenarios. However like I said, I do think Hansen will go with 2 half backs and 3 locks.
As for the outside backs, Hansen has always backed Dagg and he seems to have a huge thing about Naholo - based on the media. I mean he did concoct a deal to get him out of going to Clermont Auvergne, even though the bloke was uncapped. I would go with Piutau because he's amazing defensively and has always played well for the All Blacks - never ever had a bad game for them. I still remember against Wales, that ball and all tackle he made on Sam Warburton when there was loads of blokes around in support. That kind of play could win a world cup and I doubt Dagg or Naholo would be able to do it. Plus Barrett and Slade can cover 15 so Dagg isn't needed. And we all remember what they did with Kahui four years ago. There's a possibility he'd use Fekitoa there if need be.
As for the centres, I'm so unconvinced by Sonny Bill. He got bullied against Wales by Jamie Roberts and he has never really be convincing against Australia or the Boks, whereas Fekitoa has been outstanding and Crotty is super reliable - like for like replacement for Conrad Smith. I know they won't pick him but I would.
