All Blacks great’s ‘growing pains’ warning over in-form playmaker as Dave Rennie left with ‘headaches everywhere’
Hurricanes star Ruben Love and All Blacks great Jeff Wilson.
Ex-All Blacks star Jeff Wilson has called for patience if the Hurricanes’ Ruben Love is given the opportunity to start for the national team in the Nations Championship.
The 25-year-old has produced a series of sparkling performances in Super Rugby Pacific this season, standing out at 10 for the best team in the 2026 competition so far.
There have duly been calls for new All Blacks boss Dave Rennie to start him in that position ahead of the likes of Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie when the Nations Championship begins in July.
Barrett and McKenzie are still favourites to take that slot given their experience and quality, but there is no doubt that Love is the form pivot.
Debating the fly-half position on The Breakdown, Test centurion Mils Muliaina kicked things off by stating the Hurricanes playmaker is “right up there” for international selection.
Ruben Love ‘right in the mix’
“There’s no doubt that the Hurricanes are playing the sort of style that suits Ruben Love,” Muliaina said.
“He’s come back [from injury] and just looks a lot more confident in that position. He understands that he’s got time on his hands, and he also knows the guys that are on his outside.
“The one thing I would say he’s controlling really well is his forward pack. He’s running them around the park, he understands where they’ve got to go. He’s right in the mix.”
Richie Mo’unga will also come into the mix when he returns from Japan and becomes eligible later in the year, giving them a trio of players with over 50 caps.
Stephen Donald, who was also a panellist on the show, has called them the ‘big three’, but they could be overtaken by the much younger Love.
However, Wilson has warned that it will be a big learning curve if he is thrown into the deep end by Rennie.
“You’re talking about positions where we actually have a lot of options and depth, and the one thing about Ruben Love is if you’re going to select him and start him at 10, there are going to be some inevitable growing pains as he goes through some Test matches because he just doesn’t have experience,” he said.
“The one thing I love about him is that he has confidence, I have no issue with that.
“You’ve got to think about the teams we’re going to be up against in the middle of the year, the likes of France and Ireland, and then you’ve got four Tests against the Springboks.
“That will be hard for Ruben Love if he is the starting 10 to navigate his way through – there will be things he will learn on the fly and he will have to live with that.”
Move Cam Roigard?
There have also been suggestions about moving world-class scrum-half Cam Roigard to 10, but Wilson has his doubts when the All Blacks are struggling for depth at nine.
“Who’s our reserve half-back? That’s another question. You talk about playing Cam Roigard out of position. I get it, you look at the skill set, but I’m not convinced who our backup nine is right now,” he added.
“No one’s clearly put their hands up and said: ‘I’m the next guy’. You’ve got Xavier Roe and Cortez Ratima fighting for a nine jersey [at the Chiefs], Finlay Christie is the best of the Blues guys and Noah Hotham is still trying to find his game [at the Crusaders].
“We’ve got some big conversations in that position. I reckon he’s got headaches everywhere, for very different reasons, ‘I’ve got too many players here, I haven’t quite got what I like here, I’ve got to leave some good players out or I’ve got to find some new talent’.”