Piri Weepu © Action Images I'll be back - dumped Weepu

Piri Weepu admitted on Tuesday his axing from the All Blacks came as a shock but vowed to knuckle down and reclaim his New Zealand jersey.

The 71-test veteran was a surprise omission from coach Steve Hansen's 28-man squad named on Sunday for the Rugby Championship, with his place taken by 21-year-old TJ Perenara.

Weepu, who will turn 30 next month, said he was disappointed, feeling he had played well with Super Rugby outfit the Auckland Blues after facing criticism for a lack of fitness in the 2012 season.

"I feel like I probably played one of the best campaigns I've had in a long, long time," he told The Dominion Post newspaper.

"I'm pretty happy about that because I worked really hard in the off-season... it is a bit disappointing I didn't make the Championship."

Hansen said Weepu's fitness was not a factor in his omission, instead pointing to the half-back's inability to lift the pace of his game to match the All Blacks' plans for a speedier, high-octane brand of rugby.

Hansen has not ruled out Weepu making a comeback and the player said he still had the "fire in the belly" needed for international rugby.

"It's just about working with the right people, having the right team around me. I have to have a plan in place to get to that goal," he said.

"I can only do so much. If I work my ass off and give myself a fighting chance... then hopefully that gives me a good shot."

Weepu has bounced back before, shrugging off the disappointment of being dropped from the 2007 World Cup squad to become a cult hero in the 2011 tournament on home soil.

All Blacks fans sported "Keep Calm, Piri's On" t-shirts and websites were launched in his honour after he assumed goalkicking duties when Dan Carter was injured.

He landed seven penalty goals in the quarterfinal against Argentina and four in the semifinal against Australia as New Zealand went on to claim the trophy.

The All Blacks' opening Rugby Championship match is against Australia on August 17. South Africa and Argentina are the other teams involved.

title should say "i'll be back - dumped weepu" but something happened when i dragged title over, o_O

but despite what hansen said, i dont think theres any chance that weepu will get back into the All Blacks, its that all round speed game which weepu lacks, both around the feild and even more importantly the delivery of his balls to the sharpest backline in the world.

i agree he had one of his better super rugby seasons and its still kind of sad to see him out, but it was necessary and by 2015 RWC im sure there will be a few other old timers joinin him, cough cough woody, hore and kev cough cough.

i hope hansen at least gave him a phone call before hand, his serivces to NZ rugby deserve that much at least, wouldnt be nice to have found out through the media.

@mikey,

last years selection of weepu in the All Blacks was extremely surprising, i remember his inclusion into the All Blacks squad for ireland and andrew ellis exclusion caught everyone by surprise, cos ellis was the form halfback at the time in spXV while weepu was thw worst.

but we shouldnt have doubted shag, cos weepu came through for the All Blacks in fine style that year.

weepu had a great season, and i actually thought the latter part of the season was where weepu really came through for the blues, but with the rise of aaron smith, barlow and tj perenara, the right call has been made.

im very happy to have our halves progressing the way it is at the moment, and it makes me question meyers almost polar opposite approach in SA, where the likes of reinach, van zyl and groom are no where to be seen, o_O
i reckon van zyl and reinach are the future of the Boks, both have a differnt style to their game but can compliment a Boks team nicely, van zyl of the bench after the forwards are tired and the backs have used up a bit more energy, his speed around the park would be lethal.