Defence group reduced as director would have wanted (5)
I believe the answer is:
uncut
'director would have wanted' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'defence group reduced' is the wordplay.
'defence group' becomes 'un' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'reduced' becomes 'cut' (similar in meaning).
'un'+'cut'='UNCUT'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for uncut that I've seen before include "Not censored" , "State of raw diamond before processing" , "Unexpurgated" , "Not edited" , "Like an unused pack of cards" .)