The All Blacks opted to finish their clash with Tonga with 14-men, Steve Hansen explains why

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen admitted that during the 92-7 demolition of Tonga at Waikato Stadium that he deliberately forced his men to finish the game with 14 players in the final 15 minutes in order to put more pressure on them.

Hansen said Ryan Crotty was scheduled to only play 65 minutes on his return to test rugby after suffering a broken thumb and that while he could have contrived to have Aaron Smith play on the wing at the end, he was comfortable with a numerical disadvantage.

"We ran out of reserves and Ryan only needed to play for 65 minutes on his return," Hansen said.

When asked whether it was in preparation for a yellow or red card at the upcoming World Cup, he replied: "We have plenty of those tests anyway and we don't need too many more of them.