‘Spend money to make money’

body around,’’ Hansen said.

Carrying two squads means the All Blacks team to play England will have a full week and a half of preparation in London and Hansen also spoke of wanting to ‘‘have some petrol in the tank’’ for the three test matches in Europe.

Planning towards next year’s World Cup and player development for the inevitable player drain that will come after it are also key factors.

‘‘The idea of naming only 32 – which is one less than last year’s touring group – is to try and simulate, as much as possible, conditions that we’ll face on a selection point of view in Rugby World Cup 2019.

‘‘These guys don’t just develop by sitting at home and sometimes you’ve got to spend money to make money,’’ Hansen said.

Spending money is something the All Blacks will do plenty of on the tour with so many players engaged but Hansen defended the extra cost of the 19 players heading to Japan as the test match is a lucrative opportunity for New Zealand Rugby.

‘‘We’ve got a little bit of wiggle room because Japan was an extra game, it’s a money game, we get paid for that and it’s not coming out of NZ Rugby Union coffers,’’ he said.

‘‘We and everybody in New Zealand who follows rugby has expectations that we continue to grow our talent. It gives us the opportunity to keep developing players.

The naming of 51 players will hit a nerve with many taxpayers on the back of Hansen hinting at the possibility of financial support from the Government in August.

But he refuted the suggestion the All Blacks were seeking Government funding to play players’ wages or tour expenses.

‘‘Firstly, we’ve asked the Government to be our sponsor and I don’t think that’s a silly thing. I think we’re one of the biggest brands this country’s got and I think that will be a smart play by any Government to sponsor us and use to sell their message,’’ he said.

The split squads have been a long time in planning with All Blacks selector Grant Fox revealing the process started before Christmas.