Former All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen has urged patience over the form of current captain Sam Cane, comparing his current plight to that of World Cup winner Dan Carter.
Cane, 30, has come under intense scrutiny following the All Blacks' series defeat to Ireland, but has been retained as captain for the upcoming tour of South Africa and Rugby Championship.
After struggling with injuries before and after the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan - including returning from a broken neck in 2018 - Cane is yet to rediscover the form that made him the All Blacks' go-to in the No.7 jersey after the retirement of Richie McCaw.
And despite public calls for the likes of Sam Whitelock or Ardie Savea to be instilled as All Blacks captain, coach Ian Foster has reiterated his belief in Cane.
Foster's predecessor Sir Steve Hansen echoed those sentiments, and compared his struggle to that of Dan Carter - who faced similar questions over his form before the 2015 World Cup in England, which the All Blacks won.
"Sam Cane's in the situation that Dan Carter was in prior to us going [to the World Cup] in 2015," Sir Steve told Today FM.
"He's been injured a lot. We know he's a good player.
"We knew Dan Carter was, but everyone wanted us to drop Dan Carter. Well, we saw what happened.
"We stayed with him, we believed in him, he went to 2015 and played a massive part in us winning it.
"Sam Cane, we have to believe in him, we have to support him and he'll come right - he's too good a player not to come right, and he just needs time in the saddle.
Sir Steve added Cane needs to be persisted with as the All Blacks build towards next year's World Cup in France, with Foster's side disrupted by injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two seasons.
"At the moment we're under the pump, do we need a player who needs time? Probably not," he continued.
"But we want him for the World Cup. If we don't win the World Cup, everyone will jump up and down.
"We've got to be able to go to the World Cup with our best players. We've got a number of players injured at the moment who we need to get back, and when they come back we'll be a stronger side.
"We've just got to be careful about how we judge some of these guys."
