The Super 14 squads for the five New Zealand franchises have been selected.

The announcement of the squads follows a selection meeting at the NZRU offices in Wellington yesterday, attended by the coaching staff of the five New Zealand franchises.

The 28-strong squads include 28 new Super 14 players, six each for the Blues, Crusaders and Highlanders and five each for the Chiefs and Hurricanes.

The new Super 14 players are as follows:

Blues: Northland hooker Tim Dow, North Harbour lock/loose forward Anthony Boric, Auckland lock Kurtis Haiu, North Harbour winger Vili Waqaseduadua, North Harbour prop Mike Noble and North Harbour fullback George Pisi.

Chiefs: Counties Manukau centre Niva Ta'auso (used as a replacement by the Chiefs in 2005), Counties Manukau winger Lelia Masaga, Bay of Plenty winger Anthony Tahana, Waikato loose forward Liam Messam and Waikato prop Nathan White.

Hurricanes: Taranaki lock Jason Eaton, Wellington hooker Luke Mahoney, Wellington prop John Schwalger, Wellington five-eighths Tamati Ellison and Auckland utility Isaia Toeava.

Crusaders: Canterbury props Wyatt Crockett and Ben Franks, Canterbury halfback Andrew Ellis, Canterbury lock Craig Clarke, Canterbury centre/wing Steven Yates and Bay of Plenty openside flanker Tanerau Latimer.

Highlanders: Otago first five-eighths Ryan Bambry, Otago hooker Jason Macdonald, Otago halfback Chris Smylie, Otago utility Callum Bruce, Southland flanker Tim Boys and Southland centre/wing Ben Smith.

New Zealand Rugby Union Deputy Chief Executive Steve Tew passed on his congratulations to the 28 new players on behalf of New Zealand rugby.

"It's the first major step on the path as a fully-fledged professional player and comes at an exciting time as we kick off the newly expanded Super 14 competition next year. At the same time, it's important that we acknowledge those players who have missed out on selection," he said.

The squads also include 12 draft players.

From Auckland, midfielder Sam Tuitupou has been drafted to the Chiefs, Isaia Toeava will make his Rebel Sport Super 14 debut with the Hurricanes, lock Brad Mika and winger Tony Koonwaiyou are heading to the Crusaders, and loose forward Andrew Blowers, prop Nick White and fullback Paul Williams to the Highlanders.

Canterbury's Ben Blair and Vilimoni Delasau have been drafted to the Highlanders, Bay of Plenty's Tanerau Latimer is heading to the Crusaders, Wellington's Roy Kinikinilau will join the Highlanders and his Wellington teammate Ross Filipo will again be with the Crusaders.

The squads also include nine players returning to Rebel Sport Super 14 rugby who were not selected in 2005. The players are Andrew Blowers, Troy Flavell, Brendan Haami, David Holwell, Roy Kinikinilau, Rua Tipoki, Hale T-Pole, Nick White and Paul Williams.

Mr Tew said the selection process had been very thorough and the selection panel (made up of All Blacks selector Sir Brian Lochore, All Blacks Coach Graham Henry, NZRU President John Graham and NZRU representatives Steve Tew and Steve Lancaster) had been very impressed with the research and preparation done by the coaches.

He said the only selection issue had been over Rua Tipoki, who was excused from the draft due to personal circumstances.

"The selection panel instructed the Blues to include Tipoki in their group of 24 protected players and, as a consequence, the Blues decided to make Isaia Toeava available to the draft. He was subsequently drafted to the Hurricanes," Mr Tew said.

The 2006 Super 14 squads are as follows:

¹ indicates new Super 14 player.
² indicates returning Super 14 player.
³ indicates draft player.

Blues: John Afoa (Auckland), Ben Atiga (Auckland), Anthony Boric ¹ (North Harbour), Daniel Braid (Auckland), Justin Collins (Auckland), Steve Devine (Auckland), Tim Dow ¹ (Northland), Troy Flavell ² (Auckland), David Gibson (Auckland), Kurtis Haiu ¹ (Auckland), Doug Howlett (Auckland), Tasesa Lavea (Auckland), Angus Macdonald (Auckland), Luke McAlister (North Harbour), Keven Mealamu (Auckland), Isa Nacewa (Auckland), Mike Noble ¹ (North Harbour), George Pisi ¹ (North Harbour), Greg Rawlinson (North Harbour), Joe Rokocoko (Auckland), Saimone Taumoepeau (Auckland), Rua Tipoki ² (North Harbour), Anthony Tuitavake (North Harbour), Vili Waqaseduadua ¹ (North Harbour), Brent Ward (Auckland), Ali Williams (Auckland), Nick Williams (North Harbour), Tony Woodcock (North Harbour).

Chiefs: Sosene Anesi (Waikato), Steven Bates (Waikato), Ben Castle (Bay of Plenty), Loki Crichton (Waikato), Simms Davison (Waikato), Stephen Donald (Waikato), Jono Gibbes (Waikato), David Hill (Waikato), Sean Hohneck (Waikato), Marty Holah (Waikato), Byron Kelleher (Waikato), Nili Latu (Bay of Plenty), Sione Lauaki (Waikato), Aleki Lutui (Bay of Plenty), Deacon Manu (Waikato), Lelia Masaga¹ (Counties Manukau), Liam Messam ¹ (Waikato), Malili Muliaina (Waikato), Jamie Nutbrown (Bay of Plenty), Kristian Ormsby (Counties Manukau), Mark Ranby (Waikato), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Waikato), Niva Ta'auso ¹ (Counties Manukau), Anthony Tahana ¹ (Bay of Plenty), Sam Tuitupou ³ (Auckland), Bernie Upton (Bay of Plenty), Nathan White ¹ (Waikato), Tom Willis (Waikato).

Hurricanes: Luke Andrews (Wellington), Jerry Collins (Wellington), Jason Eaton ¹ (Taranaki), Tamati Ellison ¹ (Wellington), Lome Fa'atau (Wellington), Tim Fairbrother (Wellington), Hosea Gear (Wellington), Jimmy Gopperth (Wellington), Brendan Haami ² (Wellington), Ben Herring (Wellington), David Holwell ² (Northland), Andrew Hore (Taranaki), Ross Kennedy (Wellington), Luke Mahoney ¹ (Wellington), Chris Masoe (Taranaki), Joe McDonnell (Wellington), Ma'a Nonu (Wellington), Shannon Paku (Wellington), John Schwalger ¹ (Wellington), Conrad Smith (Wellington), Rodney So'oialo (Wellington), Neemia Tialata (Wellington), Isaia Toeava ¹ ³ (Auckland), Paul Tito (Taranaki), Tane Tu'ipulotu (Wellington), Tana Umaga (Wellington), Thomas Waldrom (Wellington), Piri Weepu (Wellington).

Crusaders: Daniel Carter (Canterbury), Craig Clarke ¹ (Canterbury), Wyatt Crockett¹ (Canterbury), Andrew Ellis ¹ (Canterbury), Ross Filipo ³ (Wellington), Corey Flynn (Canterbury), Ben Franks ¹ (Canterbury), Rico Gear (Nelson Bays), Scott Hamilton (Canterbury), Chris Jack (Canterbury), Campbell Johnstone (Canterbury), Tony Koonwaiyou ³ (Auckland), Tone Kopelani (Canterbury), Tanerau Latimer ¹ ³ (Bay of Plenty), Casey Laulala (Canterbury), Johnny Leo'o (Canterbury), Leon MacDonald (Canterbury), Richie McCaw (Canterbury), Cameron McIntyre (Canterbury), Aaron Mauger (Canterbury), Bradley Mika ³ (Auckland), Kevin O'Neill (Canterbury), Caleb Ralph (Canterbury), Kevin Senio (Canterbury), Greg Somerville (Canterbury), Reuben Thorne (Canterbury), Mose Tuiali'i (Canterbury), Steven Yates ¹ (Canterbury).

Highlanders: Ryan Bambry ¹ (Otago), Josh Blackie (Otago), Ben Blair ³ (Canterbury), Andrew Blowers ² ³ (Auckland), Tim Boys ¹ (Southland), Neil Brew (Otago), Callum Bruce ¹ (Otago), Jimmy Cowan (Southland), Vilimoni Delasau ³ (Canterbury), Clarke Dermody (Southland), Tom Donnelly (Otago), Nick Evans (Otago), Carl Hayman (Otago), Chris King (Otago), Roy Kinikinilau ² ³ (Wellington), Filipo Levi (Otago), Jason Macdonald ¹ (Otago), Hoani MacDonald (Southland), Seilala Mapusua (Otago), Craig Newby (Otago), Anton Oliver (Otago), James Ryan (Otago), Matt Saunders (Otago), Ben Smith ¹ (Southland), Chris Smylie ¹ (Otago), Hale T-Pole ² (Southland), Nick White ² ³ (Auckland), Paul Williams ² ³ (Auckland).

The number of players from each province is as follows:

Northland (2), North Harbour (10), Auckland (24), Counties Manukau (3), Waikato (17), Bay of Plenty (8), Taranaki (4), Wellington (24), Nelson Bays (1), Canterbury (25), Otago (16) and Southland (6).