No Payne in All Blacks squad for 2011 Tri Nations

There we go, we can all breathe a sigh of relief now as the All Blacks Squad has been announced for the 2011 Tri Nations and there is no mention of Ulster’s latest recruit Jared Payne.

As expected fellow Auckland Blues player John Afoa has made the cut and won’t be available until after the World Cup in October but it is still to be confirmed whether Payne will be joining Ulster during the summer or whether the  Northland’s captain will be seeing out his club contract which runs till the end of the Air New Zealand/ITM Cup which finishes on the last weekend of August.

Forwards: John Afoa – Auckland (30), Corey Flynn – Canterbury (12), Ben Franks – Tasman (7), Owen Franks – Canterbury (22), Jarrad Hoeata – Taranaki *, Andrew Hore – Taranaki (50), Jerome Kaino – Auckland (37), Richie McCaw (capt) – Canterbury (94), Keven Mealamu – Auckland (83), Liam Messam – Waikato (6), Kieran Read – Canterbury (30), Adam Thomson – Otago (17), Brad Thorn – Canterbury (50), Samuel Whitelock – Canterbury (13), Ali Williams – Auckland (61), Tony Woodcock – North Harbour (74)

Backs: Daniel Carter – Canterbury (79), Jimmy Cowan – Southland (44), Israel Dagg – Hawke’s Bay (6), Andy Ellis – Canterbury (18), Hosea Gear . . .