Graham Henry has named three uncapped players in his New Zealand squad for Test matches against France and Italy in June.

While many had predicted the inclusion of openside flanker Tanerau Latimer and lock Isaac Ross, prop Wyatt Crockett has got the nod ahead of Ben Franks and Jamie Mackintosh who were part of the All Blacks squad on last year's end of year tour.

Aside from the obvious absences of Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter through injury, the most notable absentee from the 26-man group is veteran number eight Rodney So'oialo.

The loose forward looked off the pace for the Hurricanes in the latter stages of the Super 14 and his coach Colin Cooper admitted he had not managed So'oialo's workload as well as he would have liked.

But Henry was quick to point out the 55-Test forward had not been dropped but instead required some time out to recover from a neck injury and would return to the squad for the Tri-Nations series against Australia and South Africa.

"Rodney has had an incredibly demanding Super 14 season, starting in 13 of the Hurricanes matches this year and that follows several years of intense, top-level rugby.

"We are taking a proactive approach and giving him some time to recover and rehab."