Young guns to keep All Blacks' powder dry

Twenty-five form players plus a big bloke by the name of Lomu, who has no form whatsoever, will represent the All Blacks in their forthcoming Tests against England, France and Wales. At least, that is the way John Mitchell tells it.

Well over a dozen front-liners, including the entire senior pack, are missing from the New Zealand coach's 26-strong squad, and while Mitchell insists his charges will perform in the grand tradition of silver-ferned tourists, it is patently obvious he is keeping barrel-loads of powder dry for the World Cup in Australia a year from now.

Taine Randell, the Otago flanker who captained his country in the last World Cup, will lead a party featuring 10 new All Blacks and 12 uncapped players. Only five forwards have international experience and while the phenomenally successful Canterbury province contribute four players, another 14 will remain in the south island. Included in that number are such luminaries as Reuben Thorne, Richie McCaw, Scott Robertson, Justin Marshall, Aaron Mauger and Leon MacDonald.

Some positions look particularly exposed, notably hooker and half-back. Anton Oliver, Tom Willis and Mark Hammett are missing from the front row, while the absence of Marshall and Byron Kelleher means two uncapped scrum-halves, Steve Devine of Auckland and Danny Lee of Otago, will compete for the No 9 shirt. For all Clive Woodward knows of them, Devine and Lee may as well be Peters and Lee. But there will be no crowing from the hallowed portals of Twickenham, for weakened New Zealand sides are nowhere near as vulnerable as sub-standard England ones.

Mitchell, who helped coach one of the more useless red rose vintages on the "tour of hell" in 1998, sees no comparison between the two parties. Indeed, he considers this tour to be a major opportunity for thrusting young wannabes to break Canterbury's stranglehold on the treasured black shirt. What is more, he has a group of backs – Christian Cullen, Doug Howlett, Tana Umaga, Mark Robinson, Andrew Mehrtens and Jonah Lomu – as threatening as anything on the planet.

"With the ultimate vision [the World Cup] a year away, these three Tests are fantastic games for people to play," Mitchell said yesterday. "All the northern hemisphere countries are commencing their World Cup preparations now, while we have some way to go. My selection for this trip reflects the most recent form, that shown in our National Provincial Championship."

On the subject of Lomu, still the greatest single crowd-puller in either code of rugby, Mitchell was typically blunt. "He's the one guy not picked on merit," he said. "Jonah has some special qualities, but he's hanging in there on past form. This is a critical time for him. He will get to play, and he will have to come up with some evidence."

England may well be without their second-string outside-half, Charlie Hodgson, when they face the Blacks on Saturday week: the Sale player will have an operation on his troublesome knee if there is no response to treatment over the next fortnight. France, meanwhile, have dropped the Toulouse hooker, Yannick Bru, from their squad following an after-match incident in a car park that left Thierry Labrousse, the Agen forward, nursing a broken nose.