All Blacks team: Winners and losers as ‘door opens’ for Richie Mo’unga to usurp Ruben Love while Dave Rennie rewards ‘tremendous’ talent
All Blacks Richie Mo'unga and Leroy Carter and head coach Dave Rennie
Following the announcement of the All Blacks team to face the Springboks in the final Greatest Rivalry Test on Saturday, here are our winners and losers from Dave Rennie’s selections.
Winners
Richie Mo’unga
After almost three years away from international rugby, the 32-year-old finally returns to the All Blacks Test side. He has been named in the starting line-up by the head coach, where he replaces Ruben Love and combines with Cam Roigard at half-back.
Rennie’s predecessor, Scott Robertson, was utterly desperate to get Mo’unga back, and it will be interesting to see if he answers a few of those questions at 10. While Love has been promising, he has not absolutely nailed down that shirt, and an outstanding performance on Saturday could see him usurp the 25-year-old.
Codie Taylor
Congratulations to the experienced hooker, who captains the team in the absence of Ardie Savea. Taylor missed out last weekend as Rennie opted to manage his workload, but his return will provide added leadership and a more consistent lineout thrower.
Josh Moorby
Back in the starting XV after fending off the likes of Leroy Carter and Fehi Fineanganofo to take his place in the back three alongside Will Jordan and Damian McKenzie. His Test displays have been mixed, as a fine start to his All Blacks career was followed by an underwhelming performance in the first clash against the Springboks.
With Carter still in the mix, Rieko Ioane a viable option and his Hurricanes team-mate Fineanganofo an exciting talent, Moorby needs to have a good game or Rennie may once again look elsewhere looking ahead to the Bledisloe Cup.
Ethan Blackadder
It might have taken injuries to Anton Segner and Luke Jacobson to get a spot in the Test team, but he very much deserves his opportunity after impressing on tour. Blackadder was particularly outstanding in the victory over the Lions and in some ways it is a surprise that it has taken until now for him to be involved.
In many ways, the Crusaders back-row is Jacobson mark II and will be a focal point at the breakdown on both sides of the ball. He has had his injury troubles but the 31-year-old is a tremendous player when fit.
Sam Darry and Patrick Tuipulotu
Rennie has gone for an all-Blues lock combination as Darry retains his place and is joined in the engine room by powerhouse Tuipulotu. The former started in Soweto and produced a sterling effort, getting through a mountain of work in the agonising 29-24 defeat.
With the experienced Tuipulotu coming in alongside him, it provides a slightly more balanced partnership in the second-row. In fact, it is a surprise that the 33-year-old has not played more in the Test series considering his impact at close quarters, which is vital against a side like the Boks.
Peter Lakai
It felt like he would start, it was just a matter of where, but it is a show of faith from Rennie to put him ahead of Wallace Sititi at number eight. It is of course the position where Lakai ended the 2025 Test season under Scott Robertson, but he has yet to start in that role since Rennie took charge.
He now gets that chance, but the pressure will be on the athletic loose forward to make an impact, especially in the carry. With Savea out, plenty of responsibility will be on Lakai to get New Zealand on the front foot.
Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett
There has been a lot of talk about these two and where they stand, not just from an All Blacks perspective but ultimately career-wise. Ioane and Barrett have dropped so far down the pecking order that you wondered whether they still had international futures.
However, both have been selected on the bench and it is a real opportunity to impress. If they don’t take this chance, though, it will impact their Test hopes going forward, so this could well be a last chance saloon.
Losers
Ruben Love
You suspect the decision to leave Love out of the 23 is more to do with Rennie wanting to give Mo’unga a chance, but a good performance from the 32-year-old and it will be difficult to leave him out.
A similar thing happened to Billy Proctor last season, who was supposedly rested by Robertson because he was “banged up”. Of course, the person who replaced him was Quinn Tupaea, and the Chiefs man produced a stellar display to lay the platform for the 2026 campaign.
Proctor was not terrible under Robertson, but he never convinced enough to return after Tupaea shone and that could be the same story for Love. The 25-year-old playmaker has not been poor over the past six internationals, but he has not produced performances which have demanded his long-term inclusion and, as a result, the door has opened for Mo’unga.
Fabian Holland
Again, it could be a case of the head coach wanting to give others a go, but in this instance it would not be a surprise if he has paid the price for a couple of key errors in last weekend’s defeat. There was one particularly stupid penalty as Holland did not make the impact expected of him, but it still feels harsh to drop him entirely.
While we believe the return of Tuipulotu is the right move from Rennie, it is a shock that we still haven’t seen a combination of Holland, Darry and Tupou Vaa’i at four, five and six, which looks an outstanding combination on paper.
Leroy Carter
The speedster arguably had his best Test performance in Cape Town and his attacking game remained strong a week later, but his defensive errors were unforgivable and they need to be rectified if he is to be a long-term option on the wing. Rennie seemingly thinks the same and Carter has duly been jettisoned from the 23 with Moorby starting and Ioane the option off the bench.
Samisoni Taukei’aho
Has been forced to make way with the return of Taylor to the squad with Taukei’aho very much third-choice hooker in Rennie’s eyes. In fairness, he was one of their better players off the bench in the Soweto encounter, touching down late on, but it was not enough to get a spot in Baltimore.
George Bower
There were concerns over the loosehead going into the first Test, where he was selected ahead of Xavier Numia on the bench, but he did a fine job in Johannesburg and a week later in Cape Town. However, after getting a second start in a row in Soweto, it all went wrong for Bower with the loosehead getting destroyed by Wilco Louw and he has paid the price for that.
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Wallace Sititi
He did a good job when coming on for Ardie Savea, albeit the captain’s influence was quite clearly missed in the second period, but it feels as though the All Blacks boss doesn’t quite fully trust Sititi just yet.
The Chiefs star has had to earn back Rennie’s trust after a shocking performance in the Nations Championship clash against Italy. There has been a response from Sititi to that setback, but it remains a slow process with the 24-year-old still seen as an impact man.
Simon Parker
Another player who has stepped up well when called upon but his skills perhaps don’t fit this All Blacks side against a team like the Springboks. While he is a tall and physical blindside, Parker doesn’t have the lineout skills of Vaa’i and therefore misses out for the second match running.
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Timoci Tavatavanawai
Many were calling for the powerhouse centre’s inclusion in the 23 after Tupaea was ruled out, especially after he shone in the victory over the Lions in late August but, with Anton Lienert-Brown able to fill both centre positions and Ioane also a versatile option, he has failed to make the 23.
It is unfortunate that Jordie Barrett, who is arguably the best centre in the world at the moment, is his direct competition. If Barrett was injured, Tavatavanawai would certainly come into the equation but, as it stands, he is just on the periphery.
