All Blacks squad: Five takeaways as Rieko Ioane’s ‘steady decline’ determines Test fate while unlucky omissions left ‘scratching their heads’
All Blacks back Rieko Ioane and Hurricanes flanker Du'Plessis Kirifi.
Following the announcement of the All Blacks squad for the upcoming Nations Championship, here are our five takeaways from Dave Rennie’s selections.
The Rieko Ioane decline
Springboks fans might disagree but New Zealand probably ended the 2023 Rugby World Cup with the best centre partnership in the world. In Jordie Barrett and Ioane, they had a duo that had been consistently excellent for the previous 18 months and looked set to continue that combination looking towards the 2027 tournament.
Ioane will only be 30 by the next World Cup in Australia but it is hard not to feel that his Test career is over. Players go through dips in form but the 29-year-old has been on a steady decline since Scott Robertson took over in 2024, firstly with the Blues and then at the All Blacks. Even a stint at Leinster has failed to revitalise the talented back, who failed to convince the supporters that he added any sort of benefit to the squad.
Respected pundit Bernard Jackman described his performances in a Leinster jersey as “fine” and that was absolutely true. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with what he put out on the field but, for someone that has earned 88 All Blacks caps, people expected far more.
What’s probably more concerning is the explosiveness that for so long was his point of difference appears to have disappeared. Ioane post-2023 has looked a yard slower and that has severely impacted his displays for club and country. You cannot doubt his work ethic but, when he doesn’t have the skill set to make up for that decline in out-and-out gas, it is difficult to see a way back.
Those unfortunate ones
As ever, there will be talking points from Rennie’s squad as he can’t pick everyone and there are plenty of players who will be scratching their heads today to wonder why they haven’t been selected in the 34.
Injury has, to an extent, dictated the group with Scott Barrett, Tamaiti Williams, Fabian Holland and Leicester Fainga’anuku all absent, but we are slightly bemused why George Bower has replaced Williams and not Ollie Norris.
Xavier Numia forced his way into the reckoning thanks to his explosive performances for the Hurricanes in both the loose and the tight, but Norris also enjoyed a fine season for runners-up the Chiefs. Crusaders loosehead Bower is also now 34 and has only ever been serviceable at Test level, so it is a surprise that the younger prop has not been handed his opportunity.
Rennie has also gone with experience by choosing Anton Lienert-Brown, a player he knows well having coached him at Kobelco Kobe Steelers. That probably tilted the balance his way given Lienert-Brown’s fine season under the head honcho, but it has come at the expense of Timoci Tavatavanawai and potentially David Havili.
Neither have the versatility of Lienert-Brown, another factor which went in his favour given Billy Proctor is the only out-and-out 13 and Fainga’anuku is injured, but they have both been in good form for their franchises.
Tavatavanawai has perhaps been hampered by being in an abject Highlanders outfit, and he certainly hasn’t been as good as last year, but he has a slightly different profile to the other 12s and that sheer power would have been an asset.
Norris, Tavatavanawai, Havili and the aforementioned Ioane are all notable exclusions, but their misfortune probably pales in comparison to Du’Plessis Kirifi. While many from the Super Rugby champions have been rewarded for their title success, Kirifi hasn’t and he will be feeling utterly dejected.
The flanker has once again been superb for the ‘Canes but captain Ardie Savea will be favourite for that openside berth and he doesn’t have the versatility of Peter Lakai, Luke Jacobson or newbie Anton Segner, who can all play multiple back-row positions, including openside.
Dave Rennie’s non-negotiable
Namely work ethic. The Springboks coined the phrase ‘battle stats’ which measures the amount of positive impacts a player makes within a game and it is those repeated efforts Rennie demands. It is probably why someone like Samipeni Finau has missed out.
Finau was actually one of the Chiefs’ better performers in the Super Rugby final but, if you break down his game, he showed up well in the flashy stuff and less so in the tighter exchanges which ultimately decides Test rugby.
He wasn’t consistently effective or dominant in those close quarter battles in comparison to the Hurricanes’ Lakai or blindside Devan Flanders, the latter a player Rennie surely would have loved to include in his All Blacks squad had he not already chosen to go abroad.
Flanders may well prove to be the player that got away from the head coach and the All Blacks given his work rate around the field and effectiveness in the nuts and bolts of the game.
All Blacks squad: Dave Rennie axes Rieko Ioane, selects four bolters and names new captain for 2026
Fehi Fineanganofo’s situation and other bolters
It had already been rumoured that Fineanganofo would be included but, when it was officially announced, it still raised eyebrows. This is a player who will supposedly not be eligible at the end of the year after signing a deal with English side Newcastle Red Bulls.
While Rennie played somewhat of a straight bat by insisting it was form related, it was only as straight as some of the shots England played in their horrific batting performance against New Zealand last week.
The All Blacks boss gave enough hints, despite NZ Rugby’s denials, to suggest that plans are afoot to make sure Fineanganofo remains in the country beyond this season. There are two possible theories; one is that a contract buyout with Newcastle has already been agreed – or is at least well down the track – and the other is that Rennie is using this selection as a way of convincing the ‘Canes wing to renege on his deal.
Whatever his situation is, they now have several months – and plenty of Tests – to play with and if he takes his franchise form into the Test arena, it appears inevitable that the 23-year-old will stay in New Zealand.
Fineanganofo has certainly been the star attraction in Super Rugby this season and officially broke the try-scoring record, but his team-mate Josh Moorby rather snuck up on him and equalled his tally of 17 by going over twice in the showpiece event.
Moorby went under the radar somewhat during the first part of the season but has garnered some real momentum over recent weeks and ended up as the league’s form back three player. He is older than Fineanganofo at 27 but has developed a superb all-round game.
Another uncapped Hurricane has also forced his way into the squad in the form of prop star Xavier Numia, while Blues back-rower Segner completes this year’s list of All Blacks bolters.
Fly-half battle and game plan
Prior to May, it looked like it was going to be a three-way race but, after the play-offs and Beauden Barrett’s struggles, it went down to two before the contrasting fortunes of Ruben Love and Damian McKenzie in the Super Rugby final potentially made it a foregone conclusion.
Rennie would have been wary of placing too much importance on Saturday’s showdown but Love’s excellence, combined with McKenzie’s disasterclass, means it should be a very simple decision for the new head coach when France visit in early July.
It also makes complete sense when you consider, injury-depending, the scrum-half and inside centre are guaranteed to come from the Hurricanes, which will give the All Blacks continuity going into this new era.
The national team would also do well to take aspects of ‘Canes game into the Test arena. While it is never as simple as replicating that style at a higher level, it fits with what Rennie likes to do and will have the backing from the supporters, who were unhappy with the more conservative approach under Robertson.
