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All Blacks welcome back Smith for US-European tour

Star scrum-half Aaron Smith is set to make his All Blacks return when New Zealand tour the United States and Europe in November.

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Star scrum-half Aaron Smith is set to make his All Blacks return when New Zealand tour the United States and Europe in November.

Smith has missed New Zealand's past two matches after he voluntarily stood down from Saturday's controversial 37-10 Bledisloe Cup win over Australia having been being seen entering an airport toilet cubicle with a female last month.

The 27-year-old, however, is back in the 36-man squad - captained by Keiran Read - ahead of Tests against Ireland, Italy and France, commencing on November 5.

New Zealand's roster also features the inclusion of 19-year-old outside Rieko Ioane and the return of Steven Luatua, while hooker Liam Coltman has been included in an official squad for the first time.

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Lock Sam Whitelock, though, will miss the tour after being ruled out for a minimum of three weeks due an ankle sprain suffered in the record-breaking win over the Wallabies at Eden Park, with Scott Barett called in as an injury replacement.

"We stated at the beginning of the season that this was a year of re-establishment. We are only three quarters of the way through the season, so one of our big goals for this tour is to continue that re-establishment," said coach Steve Hansen said. "The tour gives our leaders and the team the opportunity to continue to grow, in what will be different environments and against opposition that will bring a different style of game and skillsets. This will ask questions of us and, in doing so, challenge us. "Younger players will get more experience within the All Blacks environment, and it'll allow the selectors and coaching group to keep working on blending the mixture of young talent with the more experienced players in our group. This will allow our game to continue to improve and will help ensure the team is future-proofed. "As always, coaches, players and management will also need to continue to grow their skillsets and challenge themselves to improve their core roles."

World champions the All Blacks kick-off their tour against Ireland in Chicago on November 5, before travelling to Rome to face Italy a week later.

New Zealand then meet Ireland again on November 19, this time in Dublin, ahead of a showdown with France in Paris on November 25. All Blacks squad: Beauden Barrett, Sam Cane, Dane Coles, Liam Coltman, Wyatt Crockett, Ryan Crotty, Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg, Elliot Dixon, Charlie Faumuina, Malakai Fekitoa, Owen Franks, Rieko Ioane, Jerome Kaino, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Anton Leinert-Brown, Steven Luatua, Damien McKenzie, George Moala, Joe Moody, Waisake Naholo, TJ Perenara, Kieran Read (captain), Brodie Retallick, Luke Romano, Ardie Savea, Julian Savea, Aaron Smith, Ben Smith, Lima Sopoaga, Liam Squire, Codie Taylor, Matt Todd, Patrick Tuipulotu, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Sam Whitelock.

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