All Blacks selector Grant Fox is confident discarded winger Julian Savea knows what he needs to do to get back into the national setup.
Savea has not played for the All Blacks since the third Test against the British and Irish Lions, and has been relegated to playing provincial rugby, where he led his Wellington side to a championship title.
Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, Fox admitted the 54-Test capped All Black still has things to improve on before he can get a recall.
"The ball's in Juls' court," Fox says.
"I think what Julian really needs is to have a really big off season, get himself in the best possible shape. He can find his speed and agility again.
"He's getting there, but we don't think he's quite there yet. I think a big off season will help him do that.
"Super Rugby will be pretty critical to Juls' All Blacks future next year."
Fox thinks the 27-year-old may be feeling the effects of getting older and needs to make the necessary changes to combat the inevitable.
"As you get older, the speedsters often become a little bit of a problem for them; it becomes challenging.
"So he's just got to plot his way through that. Whether that's diet or losing a bit of weight, I don't know - all sorts of things just to find that little bit of sharpness again and find the agility to beat players , find that little bit - maybe deeper aerobic fitness - to up their work rate a little bit.
"That all gets harder as athletes get older, no matter what position, so those are just areas he's just got to keep chipping away at."
Fox is also hopeful Savea discovers a newfound level of appreciation for the black jersey, and believes his absence from the New Zealand team will have him itching to win it back.
"Time away will help him rekindle that fire again - we often find that happens.
"You don't sometimes appreciate what you've got till it's not there anymore."
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