Rieko Ioane to remain on the wing - Steve Hansen

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen confirmed that Reiko Ioane will remain at wing despite his success at centre in the 'Game of Three Halves'.

Hansen's side competed against Canterbury and Otago for 40 minutes each at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Friday as a part of the 'Game of Three Halves'.

Ioane went on to score his second consecutive hat-trick for All Blacks even though the Friday's game was a pre-season friendly and has predominantly played at centre for Blues in the recently concluded Super Rugby season.

Despite, a successful performance Hansen insisted that Ioane will continue to play at wing for All Blacks and wanted players to remain as flexible as possible.

"He was all right but we have got enough of them," said Hansen in regard to how he felt Ioane played at centre.

"To give everyone a run the logical thing was to put him at centre. We didn't really care where people played we just wanted them to play and experience burning lungs."

New Zealand will face Australia in Sydney on 18th August in the opening game of the Rugby Championship 2018 season.