RUGBY: New Zealand captain Reuben Thorne would accept losing Tests on the November tour to Europe if they blooded young players for the World Cup next year.

Thorne said the selectors might drop senior players from the three-Test tour to England, France and Wales in order to rest them ahead of the World Cup, and that winning matches would therefore take a back seat to developing squad depth.

"They have to treat the World Cup as the number one aim and work backwards from there," Thorne told the Dominion Post newspaper.

"They don't want to lose along the way but if the end result is achieved, no-one will remember who you lost to.

"Winning the World Cup has to be the aim, so if there are players that need to be looked after so they can be at their best next year, then that is an issue that needs to be sorted out."

Thorne said that picking the team would be difficult for coach John Mitchell and selectors Kieran Crowley and Mark Shaw as they juggled the demands of winning each Test with developing players for the future.