Three Barrett brothers in AB squad to take on Lions

Most of the players in doubt because of injuries, two debutants and three Barrett brothers have been included in the 33-man All Black squad to take on the British and Irish Lions.

Hooker Dane Coles has been included despite not having played since March because of injuries and concussion, however coach Steve Hansen said he was unlikely to play in the first two Tests.

The selectors have named two uncapped players, the Hurricanes midfielder Ngani Laumape and Hurricanes fullback Jordie Barrett, meaning there's now three Barrett brothers in the All Blacks.

Jordie joins his older brothers Scott and Beauden in the squad.

Jordie, Beauden and Scott Barrett are the first sibling trio to be named in the same All Blacks squad and will be just the fourth set of three brothers to play for the All Blacks, following the Brownlie and Nicholls brothers in the 1920s and the Whitelocks in recent years.

Hansen has included five players as injury cover.

Malakai Fekitoa, Nehe Milner-Skudder and George Moala have been left out.

Hansen said: "Firstly, on behalf of the All Blacks, the selectors would like to congratulate all players selected for the Lions Series, especially the new All Blacks.

"Obviously, it's a very special occasion for the Barrett and Laumape families, with Jordie and Ngani being selected for the first time. Jordie has been in outstanding form, he has a skillset which is complete and has a great running and kicking game. Ngani too has been impressive throughout the Super season and has forced his way in through commanding performances," Hansen said.

"This has been by far the toughest team that we've had to select for some time and some players who are in very good form missed out, and we always feel for them. But as is the nature of Test rugby I'm sure a number of them will get an opportunity, if not in this Series, then throughout the season."

"We're really appreciative of the opportunity to play Samoa first up. The Samoan game is ideal in preparing us for the challenge that comes with the Lions.

"We see the DHL New Zealand Lions Series as a great opportunity to gauge where we're at from both an individual and a team perspective. As always, we'll look forward to growing our game, as we know that if we don't keep improving, others will go past us.

"We're excited by the uniqueness that comes with playing a Lions Series as it only comes around every 12 years."

The squad will again be captained by number eight Kieran Read with Ben Smith as Vice-Captain, and the makeup of the squad sees 17 forwards selected (three hookers, five props, four locks and five loose forwards) and 16 backs (three halfbacks, three first five-eighths, three midfielders and six outside backs) and has a total of 1,164 Test caps experience and an average of 35 Test caps per player.

The All Blacks squad has a Super Rugby mix of five Blues players, six Chiefs, seven Hurricanes, 10 Crusaders and five Highlanders, while 11 of New Zealand's provincial unions are represented, with seven Canterbury players, four each from Wellington, Auckland and Taranaki, three from Manawatu, two each from Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and Counties Manukau and one each from Southland, Otago and Tasman.

Forwards:

Hookers

Dane Coles (Wellington, 49)

Codie Taylor (Canterbury, 15)

Nathan Harris (Bay of Plenty, 4)

Props

Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury, 58)

Charlie Faumuina (Auckland, 46)

Owen Franks (Canterbury, 90)

Joe Moody (Canterbury, 24)

Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Auckland, 4)

Locks

Scott Barrett (Taranaki, 4)

Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay, 60)

Luke Romano (Canterbury, 26)

Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury, 84)

Loose Forwards

Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty, 40)

Jerome Kaino (Auckland, 74)

Kieran Read, captain (Counties Manukau, 97)

Ardie Savea (Wellington, 12)

Liam Squire (Tasman, 8)

Backs:

Halfbacks

Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Waikato, 25)

TJ Perenara (Wellington, 29)

Aaron Smith (Manawatu, 58)

First five-eighths

Beauden Barrett (Taranaki, 49)

Aaron Cruden (Manawatu, 47)

Lima Sopoaga (Southland, 6)

Midfielders

Ryan Crotty (Canterbury, 26)

Ngani Laumape (Manawatu, uncapped)

Anton Lienert-Brown (Waikato, 9)

Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau, 33)

Outside backs

Jordie Barrett (Taranaki, uncapped)

Israel Dagg (Hawke's Bay, 61)

Rieko Ioane (Auckland, 2)

Waisake Naholo (Taranaki, 12)

Julian Savea (Wellington, 52)

Ben Smith (Otago, 60)

The teams will face off three times in the coming weeks, with the first Test at Eden Park on 24 June, the second a week later in Wellington, and the third back in Auckland on 8 July.

The Māori All Blacks squad for their game against the Lions in Rotorua has also be announced, with Head Coach Colin Cooper (Ngāti Pūkenga/Ngāti Porou) naming an experienced squad to play the Lions next Saturday.

The squad features three new caps and six former All Blacks.

Former All Blacks flankers Elliot Dixon and Liam Messam, hooker Hikawera Elliott, backs Damien McKenzie, Charlie Ngatai and Nehe Milner-Skudder have been included.

Halfbacks Bryn Hall and Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and midfielder Rob Thompson are the potential debutants.

Cooper is looking forward to bringing the players together in Rotorua, along with the management team, to face the Lions.

"We've got a very exciting group coming together to experience this special and rare occasion. The majority of us have been working together over the past couple of years so we already have an understanding of each other and clarity around what we're looking to achieve."

Cooper said the magnitude of the match was huge and representing the country, New Zealand Rugby and Māoridom was always front of mind for the Māori All Blacks.

"Knowing the ground will be full for the match, and getting a feel for the support that's coming from the Rotorua community in hosting us, along with the rest of New Zealand around the Series and the match itself is exciting.

"We're very much looking forward to bringing our whānau together over the weekend to start focusing on how we're going to present ourselves to the Lions, and the world, as the Māori All Blacks.

Māori All Blacks Head Coach Colin Cooper (Ngāti Pūkenga/Ngāti Porou) has named an experienced squad to play the British & Irish Lions in Rotorua next Saturday.

The 2017 Māori All Blacks Squad for the DHL New Zealand Lions Series is (* denotes new cap):

Forwards

Props

Chris Eves - North Harbour - Waikato/Tainui (7 appearances)

Kane Hames - Tasman - Ngāi Tuhoe/Ngāti Porou (5)

Mike Kainga - Taranaki - Ngāti Kahungunu (2)

Ben May - Hawke's Bay - Ngāti Maniapoto (12)

Marcel Renata - Auckland - Ngāti Whānaunga / Te Aupouri (4)

Hookers

Ash Dixon (captain) - Hawke's Bay - Ngāti Tahinga (8)

Hikawera Elliot - Counties Manukau - Ngāti Awa (9)

Locks

Tom Franklin - Otago - Ngāti Maniapoto (4)

Leighton Price - Taranaki - Waikato/Ngāti Maniapoto (3)

Joe Wheeler - Tasman - Ngāi Tahu (2)

Loose forwards

Elliot Dixon - Southland - Ngāpuhi (9)

Akira Ioane - Auckland - Ngāpuhi/Te Whānau ā Apanui (5)

Liam Messam - Waikato - Ngāti Maniapoto (12)

Reed Prinsep - Canterbury - Te Rārawa (2)

Kara Pryor - Northland - Ngāti Awa/Ngāti Pikiao/Ngāti Rangitihi (2)

Backs

Halfbacks

Bryn Hall* - North Harbour - Ngāti Ranginui

Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi* - Taranaki - Ngāti Pikiao

First five-eighths

Otere Black - Manawatu - Ngāi Tuhoe/Te Whānau ā Apanui/Ngāti Tūwharetoa (4)

Ihaia West - Hawke's Bay - Ngāti Kahungunu/Ngāti Porou (7)

Midfielders

Tim Bateman - Canterbury - Ngāi Tahu (12)

Charlie Ngatai - Taranaki - Ngāti Porou/Te Whānau ā Apanui/Te Whakatōhea (9)

Matt Proctor - Wellington - Ngāi Te Rangi/Ngāpuhi (9)

Rob Thompson* - Canterbury - Ngāti Kahungunu

James Lowe - Tasman - Ngāpuhi/Ngāi Te Rangi (5)

Outside backs

Damian McKenzie - Waikato - Ngāti Tūwharetoa/Ngāti Tahinga (3)

Nehe Milner-Skudder - Manawatu - Ngāti Porou/Tapuika (2)

Declan O'Donnell - Taranaki - Ngāti Tūwharetoa/Ngāti Porou (1)

The Lions tour has got off to a subdued start, with the team narrowly beating the NZ Provincial Barbarians in their first match, and losing to the Auckland Blues in the second game last night.