Wellington: Uncapped winger Patrick Osborne has been called into the extended New Zealand squad for next weekend’s Rugby Championship decider against Australia in Sydney and the second test against the Wallabies in Auckland the following week.
Scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow also comes back in place of the experienced Andy Ellis and will be desperate to get back into test rugby after missing the Super Rugby season because of a knee injury.
Centre Ma’a Nonu was included in the squad despite a shoulder injury suffered in last week’s victory over the Springboks that could yet rule him out of Saturday’s match at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
“We’re not going to risk him if he’s not right. There’s a big season ahead, and we’ve got plenty of cover there so we’ll see how it goes,” coach Steve Hansen told Fairfax Media.
Flyhalf Dan Carter and centre Sonny Bill Williams return after being rested for the trip to South Africa, while Charlie Faumuina was among seven props named in the squad as he continues his recovery from neck surgery.
Osborne comes in to provide cover for Cory Jane and his Otago Highlanders teammate Waisake Naholo, who fractured his leg on his test debut against Argentina last month and has been all but ruled out of the World Cup.
Jane still has hopes of defending the title he helped win on home soil in 2011 but the 53-test veteran sprained his ankle playing for New Zealand Barbarians against the Maori All Blacks in July.
“It’s more for the future really,” Hansen added.
“With Waisake out three months and Cory still struggling with his injury, we just wanted to make sure we had someone else that has been in the environment.”
Wellington Hurricanes flyer Nehe Milner-Skudder looks more likely to make his test debut in one of the two matches against the Wallabies after recovering from a rib injury suffered in the Super Rugby final.
The 41-man squad will be reduced to 31 for the trip across the Tasman Sea on Wednesday for the match, which also doubles as the first of two tests for the Bledisloe Cup.
