The 22 man All Black squad to play Manu Samoa at Albany Stadium on Saturday 16 June was announced in Wellington on Sunday morning.

The biggest talking point is likely to be the omission of winger Jonah Lomu. But there is nothing sinister in his non-selection, coach Wayne Smith pointing out that because of his trip to the UK to play for the Barbarians and in the New Zealand World Series sevens squad Lomu had played a lot of rugby and had also missed the early stages of last week's training camp in Palmerston North.

The break given to Lomu coincides with the return to test rugby of Jeff Wilson, who missed the Tri Nations series in 2000 after taking a sabbatical at the end of Super 12 2000. He returned for the Highlanders in 2001 and although he enjoyed a quiet campaign he has the experience and undoubted class to make a major impact at test level again in 2001. The other wing position will be occupied by Auckland flier Doug Howlett.

The three newcomers to the squad in line for test debuts are second five Mark Ranby, prop Carl Hayman and openside flanker Marty Holah. Ranby is competing with Pita Alatini for the starting position and may have to satisfy himself with a place on the bench when the starting XV is announced on Wednesday. With Greg Somerville and Carl Hoeft likely to be the starting props , Hayman's ability to play at either loosehead or tighthead will see him making his test debut from the bench. Holah , who enjoyed a magnificent Super 12 campaign with the Chiefs, displaces Scott Robertson and has a wonderful opportunity to stake his claim for the no7 shirt vacated by Josh Kronfeld. With Troy Flavell covering the locking positions and Reuben Thorne in at no6 , Taine Randell seems destined to cover all back row positions from the bench. Flavell's superb first half display for the Maori against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday evening, before a throat injury forced his replacement at half time, seems certain to reopen the debate as to why he is not being played in the blindside position.

The selection of both Norm Maxwell and Mark Cooksley seemed assured after their excellent performances for the Maori, Cooksley's return to test football providing extraordinary testimony to his durability and the coaching skills of John Mitchell. The All Black forward with most to prove is North Harbour's Ron Cribb, a debutant in 2000 following an excellent season as the Crusaders clinched their third successive Super 12 title.

In addition to Christian Cullen, sidelined because of recent knee surgery, Keith Lowen, Roger Randle, Chris Jack, Jerry Collins, Scott Robertson and Gordon Slater have missed out after being included in the 30 man training squad. The 22 man All Black squad is :

Backs : Leon MacDonald ( Canterbury), Jeff Wilson (Otago), Doug Howlett ( Auckland), Tana Umaga ( Wellington), Mark Ranby ( Waikato), Pita Alatini ( Otago), Andrew Mehrtens ( Canterbury ), Tony Brown ( Otago), Justin Marshall (Canterbury), Byron Kelleher ( Otago).

Forwards : Anton Oliver ( Otago, captain), Mark Hammett ( Canterbury), Greg Somerville ( Canterbury ), Carl Hoeft ( Otago), Carl Hayman ( Otago), Norm Maxwell ( Canterbury), Mark Cooksley ( Waikato), Troy Flavell ( North Harbour), Reuben Thorne ( Canterbury), Marty Holah ( Waikato), Taine Randell ( Otago), Ron Cribb ( North Harbour ).