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Winning next World Cup major goal as Goodhue commits to NZ

Rugby World Cup - Pool B - New Zealand v Canada

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Centre Jack Goodhue had no hesitation in committing to New Zealand Rugby until the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, with a major motivation being to get the All Blacks' hands back on the Webb Ellis trophy.

Goodhue, 25, was part of the All Blacks squad who were comprehensively beaten by England in last year's World Cup semi-finals before they thrashed Wales to finish third.

"My heart is in New Zealand," Goodhue told reporters in Christchurch on Thursday after New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced he had also re-signed with the Canterbury Crusaders and his home province of Northland for another three years.

"Obviously to play again in another World Cup, a lot of things depend on that, but if my form is good in 2023, hopefully I get a chance to redeem what happened in 2019."

All Blacks coach Ian Foster has begun rebuilding for the 2023 tournament with seven new faces in his first squad named on Sunday and Goodhue was excited by the challenge for positions in the midfield.

"I know there are amazing midfielders coming through, like Peter Umaga-Jensen, Braydon (Ennor) is great, Rieko Ioane wants to play more midfield," Goodhue said.

"It's never going to be clear cut with finding yourself in that midfield starting position for the All Blacks."

Goodhue joined a number of All Blacks players - including Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Patrick Tuipulotu, Scott Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Anton Lienert-Brown - in committing to play in New Zealand.

"He (Goodhue) has grown immensely as a player since coming into our group in 2017 and has some real international experience under his belt which will serve him well," Foster said.

"He's also a growing leader in our team and we look forward to seeing how his influence grows both on and of field over the next few years."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru and Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; editing by Ed Osmond and Lincoln Feast)