Dave Rennie has made his first big call as All Blacks coach, handing the number 10 jersey to Hurricanes first-five Ruben Love and leaving veteran Beauden Barrett out of the match-day squad entirely for Saturday night’s test against France in Christchurch.
The selection, named on Thursday, opens the 2026 Nations Championship and marks the start of the Rennie era after a summer of speculation about which direction the new coach would take. On the evidence of his first team sheet, the answer is form over reputation.
Love has been rewarded for a standout Super Rugby Pacific campaign in which he steered the Hurricanes to the title, the club’s first in a decade. He will play his sixth test but his first start at first-five for the All Blacks, and he does so inside a familiar Wellington spine, with Hurricanes teammates Cam Roigard at halfback and Jordie Barrett at second-five outside him.
Rennie made clear the picks were built on what players had produced across the Super Rugby season. “There is no doubt players have forced our hand as selectors through quality Super Rugby performances,” he said, as reported by RNZ.
The most striking name on the team sheet is the one that is missing. Beauden Barrett, a two-time World Rugby player of the year and a fixture in All Blacks squads for more than a decade, was left out of the 23 altogether. Barrett had struggled with a leg injury during the Blues’ season, and Rennie has instead gone with Damian McKenzie at fullback, the position Barrett has often filled in recent years.
Will Jordan, one of the most prolific try-scorers in the modern game, shifts from fullback to the right wing to accommodate McKenzie, and lines up opposite Caleb Clarke on the left. It is a back three built for counter-attack, with McKenzie’s running game at the back and two of the country’s most dangerous finishers on the flanks.
In the midfield, Quinn Tupaea won a contested race for the outside centre spot, pairing with Jordie Barrett in a combination that leans on physicality and directness. The selection of Tupaea over other contenders was one of several calls that 1News described as a surprise.
Up front, Rennie has picked a loose forward trio that raised eyebrows. Ardie Savea captains the side from number eight, but Luke Jacobson has been handed the openside flanker jersey ahead of more recognised specialists, and Peter Lakai starts at blindside. The front row is Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor and Fletcher Newell, with Josh Lord and Sam Darry locking the scrum.
Two uncapped players will get their chance off the bench. Hurricanes prop Xavier Numia and wing Fehi Fineanganofo were both named as debutants, continuing the theme of Super Rugby form earning a look at test level. The rest of the reserves carry plenty of experience, with Asafo Aumua, Tyrel Lomax, Patrick Tuipulotu, Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima and Billy Proctor filling out the bench.
The full starting side is Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell, Josh Lord, Sam Darry, Peter Lakai, Luke Jacobson, Ardie Savea, Cam Roigard, Ruben Love, Caleb Clarke, Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie.
The match is the opening fixture of the new Nations Championship, the global test competition that pits the southern hemisphere sides against their northern counterparts through the middle of the year before a finals weekend. For the All Blacks it means a French side that has become one of the most dangerous teams in world rugby, and a home crowd eager to see what a new coaching group looks like.
It will also be the first big test under the roof at One New Zealand Stadium, the covered arena that has given Christchurch a permanent, weatherproof home for major matches. Kick-off is scheduled for the evening.
For Love, the promotion is the culmination of a rapid rise. A year ago he was still fighting for game time and shuffling between fullback and first-five for the Hurricanes. Now he has the keys to the All Blacks backline in a coach’s first outing, with the added responsibility of goal-kicking and game management against a French pack that will test his composure.
The wider message from Rennie is that Super Rugby results will carry real weight in his selections, and that no reputation is safe if the form is not there. Leaving out a player of Barrett’s standing in his very first squad is the clearest signal he could have sent. Whether it pays off will start to become clear when the All Blacks run out in Christchurch on Saturday.
What do you make of Rennie’s first selection, and was he right to leave Beauden Barrett out? Have your say in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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