Isaac Ross will fulfil a lifetimes ambition when he makes his New Zealand debut against France on June 13 as the Crusaders lock follows in the footsteps of both his parents.

Ross, the 24-year-old son of former New Zealand rugby internationals Jock and Christine, listened to the announcement of the squad by New Zealand Rugby Union chairman Jock Hobbs on Sunday via the internet and admitted to a few nervous moments waiting to hear if his name would be read out.

"I used to put on the old man's jersey and run around but you don't actually think it's going to happen," the lock told The Press newspaper. "Then a few years down the track the dream starts to become a reality and it has."

He added: "It was really a process of elimination, because I was so far down the list and I was thinking about (Jason) Eaton and (Kevin) O'Neill and they weren't there, so I was thinking 'who is there left?'

"To hear Ross and then Thorn and then Williams was just awesome."

New Zealand kick-off their international season with Tests against France in Dunedin and Wellington before facing Italy in Christchurch at the end of June.

Coach Graham Henry though concedes Ross still needs to add a "hard edge" to his game.

"Isaac Ross has got size, he's got good aerial skills, great hands, he catches and passes well and he's a good athlete," Henry told the stuff.co.nz. "That's a hell of a good thing to start off with and we've just got to get him a bit nasty.

"It's going to take forwards coach Steve Hansen a couple of years to mould him into that and get that hard edge to him.

"He'll be on the track in Dunedin against some nasty old French people with big knees and big elbows and hard heads."