The All Blacks selectors want to see more of Damian McKenzie at No 10 for the Chiefs.

Fear not Damian McKenzie fans, the All Blacks omission of the outrageously talented and in-form Chiefs fullback is likely to be only a temporary one.

The 22-year-old McKenzie has missed out to the emerging force that is 20-year-old Jordie Barrett in Steve Hansen's All Blacks squad of 33 (plus injury covers) to prepare for the three tests against the touring British and Irish Lions, as well as the warmup clash against Samoa in Auckland on Friday.

That in itself was revealed to be an extremely close decision, with the All Blacks selectors conceding McKenzie's form had remained where they wanted it to be through the Super Rugby season. In many ways it was simply Barrett's freakish combination of size, skill and athletic talent that got him the nod, with slightly more positional adaptability to boot.

"Choosing between him and Damian was hard, like really hard," admitted national selector and former All Black great Grant Fox. "Part of that is what we think they'll bring, how we look to play the game and how Jordie fits in to combinations."

READ MORE:

* Cruden injured knee v Canes

* Seven All Blacks to face Lions

* Barrett trio in All Blacks

* NZ Maori squad to face Lions named

* Rieko Ioane lights up Lions

"Damian was definitely unlucky," added assistant coach, and attack guru, Ian Foster. "He has played really well, and I guess there will be a bit of debate about Damian v Jordie. You've got two really exciting young players, who are quite different (McKenzie a compact 1.75m and 80kg; Barrett a towering 1.95m and 96kg).

"Damian is an outstanding player. He probably has got a slightly higher error-rate in some aspects but he does some brilliant things and I know he'll be back."

That is likely to be sooner rather than later in All Black terms, with experienced first five-eighths Aaron Cruden due to depart after the Lions tour to take up a contract with Montpellier in France.

That could open the door for talented Crusaders pivot Richie Mo'unga, or it could herald an immediate return for McKenzie to eventually fill a first five/fullback supersub role, a la Beauden Barrett so successfully through to the 2015 World Cup.

The All Blacks selectors know enough about McKenzie's capabilities at fullback, based on back-to-back standout seasons of Super Rugby and his time in the national squad through 2016.

But it's as a first five-eighth they need to see more from McKenzie, before anointing him as the 2.0 version of Barrett the supersub.

"We're really interested in seeing him spend a bit of time at 10," added Foster. "I would imagine things do change for him at the Chiefs without Aaron there. But until we've had sufficient time to see him there it's hard to go into the test arena with someone at 10 who hasn't really played a lot there.

"And as a specialist 15 we really feel we've got some good options there already."

McKenzie is the heir apparent to Cruden at 10 with the Chiefs, and time in the saddle there will only help his cause as the ideal All Blacks bench man to cover 10 and 15.

Fox said it was the logical progression for the talented youngster.

"Damian says he wants to be a 10 and we see a great skillset at 10. But it's hard to pick him when he's not playing there. If you think about Beauden as a supersub on the bench, we're not saying that's where we see Damian's future, but if you look at that mould he could be that person.

"Then he could ultimately become good enough to demand a starting position, which Beauden got to. But we need a lot more evidence. It would be a tough ask for him to do a 10/15 bench role at test level now without some time in the saddle at 10."

McKenzie played the second half at No 10 for the Chiefs in their Friday night Super Rugby victory over the Hurricanes in the capital when Cruden strained knee ligaments. It's not known yet how serious that injury is.

But could next Saturday's New Zealand Maori clash against the Lions in Rotorua provide a further peek, followed quickly by the Chiefs' own crack against Warren Gatland's men on June 20.

McKenzie has been picked as an outside back by Maori coach Colin Cooper, with Otere Black and Ihaia West the nominated No 10s.

But given he will have Rieko Ioane to bolster an already strong backline contingent, Cooper could at least consider throwing McKenzie in at No 10 outside Chiefs team-mate Tawera Kerr-Barlow, with Charlie Ngatai, Matt Proctor, James Lowe, Ioane and Nehe Milner-Skudder outside.

Now that would be some backline. Perhaps even one Hansen would prefer to see.