MORE: Wallabies, All Blacks look to bounce back
Cruden hasn’t played for the All Blacks since being stood down following a late-night drinking session which saw him miss the team’s flight to Argentina last month.
The 35 Test five-eighth travelled to Brisbane earlier this week with expectations of resuming his spot in the side but was left out of the match-day squad in favour of Barrett, who will wear the number 10 jersey, with the versatile Colin Slade on the bench.
"He's definitely not getting punished, he's back in the group because we want him in the group," Hansen said at the All Blacks' team hotel in Brisbane on Thursday.
"He hasn't made the 23 simply because we think that Beauden Barrett's been playing well enough to get another go at first-five.
"Once we made that decision, then it was about what was best for our bench and Sladey (Colin Slade) covers so many positions for us – first-five, second-five, wing, fullback – so it was an obvious choice."
Cruden’s international career was at a critical juncture after his omission from the All Blacks’ last two Rugby Championship matches and Barrett seized the opportunity to steer the side around from first-five.
Hansen said Barrett “has his nose in front of Cruden at the moment” but left the door open for the Chiefs five-eighth to play on the Spring Tour of Chicago and the United Kingdom in November.
With injured playmaker Dan Carter set to make a return to the pitch, Hansen is left with the type of selection headache every coach wants to have.
“We’ve got to name the (Spring Tour) team on Monday, so being open and honest, he (Carter) will get named on Monday and then we’ll have to make some assessments whether he's right to play and when he's right to play,” Hansen said.
“We want to take him on the tour if he's right, so that'll mean we'll have to name him on Monday.”
The All Blacks coach has made five changes to the starting side which lost to the Springboks in Johannesburg two weeks ago with front-rowers Dane Coles and Wyatt Crockett joining Brodie Retallick and Liam Messam in the forwards and Cory Jane replacing Ben Smith on the wing.
While Hansen says the Wallabies’ week from hell will make them a “very dangerous beast” this weekend, the All Blacks are itching to bounce back from their last gasp defeat to South Africa.
“We finished on a tough loss over in Johannesburg so to come to Brisbane the boys are energised and ready to roll,” fullback Israel Dagg said earlier this week.
“We had a pretty stern review on Tuesday, it was a pretty honest review and we were pretty disappointed with how we played in Johannesburg, especially in that first 40 minutes so the boys are on edge and ready to roll.”
The Bledisloe Cup is already safely locked away in the All Blacks’ trophy cabinet but there’s no hint of complacency in the New Zealand camp.
“We want to play well as a team and as individuals and it’s the Bledisoloe Cup against Australia, it’s a no-brainer really,” said Dagg.
“The boys are hissing, it’s going to be a tough match and we just want to go out there and play well.”
Teams
All Blacks: Israel Dagg, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Julian Savea, Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith, Kieran Read, Richie McCaw (c), Liam Messam, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Dane Coles, Wyatt Crockett.
Reserves: Keven Mealamu, Ben Franks, Charlie Faumuina, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara, Colin Slade, Charles Piutau.
Wallabies: 1. James Slipper, 2. Saia Fainga'a, 3. Sekope Kepu, 4. Sam Carter, 5. Rob Simmons, 6. Scott Fardy, 7. Michael Hooper (c ) 8. Scott Higginbotham, 9. Nick Phipps, 10. Bernard Foley, 11. Joe Tomane, 12. Christian Lealiifano, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Adam Ashley-Cooper, 15. Israel Folau.
Reserves: 16. Josh Mann-Rea, 17. Benn Robinson, 18. Ben Alexander, 19. James Horwill, 20. Matt Hodgson, 21. Nic White, 22. Quade Cooper,
23. Rob Horne.