All Blacks team: Winners and losers as Beauden Barrett’s World Cup hopes at ‘great risk’ while Dave Rennie potentially makes ‘huge mistake’
All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett and back-rower Wallace Sititi.
Following the announcement of the All Blacks team to face Ireland in the Nations Championship on Saturday, here are our winners and losers from Dave Rennie’s selections.
Winners
Patrick Tuipulotu
After pulling out late ahead of the Nations Championship opener against France, Tuipulotu returns from injury to start this weekend. Usually used as an impact replacement, the Blues lock has come into the XV with Tupou Vaa’i shifting to blindside flanker.
A good scrummager who carries well and does his job effectively in the lineout, Tuipulotu is a big physical presence in the All Blacks second-row, but it is a big call given the excellent performances of Sam Darry over the past two weeks.
Josh Moorby
Chosen ahead of Caleb Clarke after a fine debut off the bench in the victory over Italy. Moorby was heavily involved in their second-half surge as he took his Super Rugby Pacific form into the Test arena.
This will obviously be another step up, however, as Ireland will challenge him more in the fundamentals of back three play. The Hurricanes wing was hugely impressive under the high ball in Super Rugby and generally defended well but Rob Baloucoune has the ability to make life difficult for him at Eden Park.
Damian McKenzie
Stepped up magnificently against the French, especially after Ruben Love got sin-binned, but was much quieter a week later in Wellington. Has once again been backed, though, and will look to link up with Love and Jordie Barrett in attack to test that Irish defence. But it will be under the high ball where McKenzie will be under the most scrutiny having had issues in that area since the change in ‘escort’ law.
There is a line of thinking that it is now more important for the wings to be better in the air, given that more contests come via box-kicks in the wider channels, and both Jordan and Moorby are adept in that facet of the game, but the visitors will still look to expose that perceived All Blacks weakness.
Luke Jacobson
Lasted just the 40 minutes the previous week in what was a relatively underwhelming individual display, but Jacobson has credit in the bank for his excellence in the victory over France. His job is arguably bigger against Ireland, however, especially given the omissions of the dynamic Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi from the starting line-up.
Anton Segner
Doesn’t manage to break into the XV, but the inexperienced Test back-rower does make the bench ahead of the more established Sititi after a stunning debut against Italy. Segner showed what he is all about by producing an excellent display where he was in the thick of the action. He will hope to do the same against a better Ireland team at his home ground in Auckland.
Tyrel Lomax
Still finding his feet after an injury-hit 12 months but he has been chosen to start ahead of Fletcher Newell and Hurricanes team-mate Pasilio Tosi. Lomax was not exactly convincing at the set-piece against Italy but he has been entrusted by Rennie to lay a better platform this time around.
Given Ireland’s scrum troubles this year, which seem to have only got worse in the Nations Championship, it gives Lomax a chance to stamp his authority on the scrum but, if he doesn’t, then there will be concerns.
Losers
Beauden Barrett
The playmaker will get his chance in the early tour games in South Africa, but it is still a slight surprise that Barrett has not featured in at least one of the Nations Championship encounters. McKenzie and Love have been the preferred options over the past month, which means the Test centurion will have to bide his time and potentially ponder whether he is being eased out by Rennie.
You have to remember that Richie Mo’unga will be available after the Springboks clashes, which does not give Barrett a very big window to impress. You certainly cannot see the head coach carrying four fly-halves in his 34-man squad, which has put his Rugby World Cup ambitions at great risk.
Wallace Sititi
Sititi might have been very poor against Italy, thanks to a number of handling errors, but it is still a massive call to jettison him from the squad completely. He offers something very different to the other back-rowers, even captain Ardie Savea, so to see him miss out on the 23 is a surprise.
While they have impact in the form of Segner and Lakai, who are both dynamic, they don’t have the skill set of Sititi, who has the ability to do the spectacular. That is what he did in the Chicago clash against Ireland in November last year, so Andy Farrell will no doubt be delighted that he has missed out this time around. It is not a bench which will necessarily strike fear into the Irish.
Billy Proctor
After being on the bench against France and starting a week later, he misses out in the final Nations Championship clash. Proctor has probably paid the price for his errors in the victory over the Azzurri, most notably missing a one-on-one tackle for the visitors’ opening try. Anton Lienert-Brown offers better versatility, but it is definitely the safe option from the new All Blacks head coach.
Injured wings
Moorby’s selection is in part due to the injuries to Fehi Fineanganofo and Leroy Carter, who have been ruled out of the encounter at Eden Park. It is unfortunate for both but particularly Fineanganofo with many looking forward to seeing Super Rugby’s hottest prospect get a run at Test level, but that has so far not happened with the ‘Canes star getting just 12 minutes against France.
Pasilio Tosi
There have been a few surprise calls but, for us, we are shocked Rennie did not opt for the all-Hurricanes front-row on the bench considering they performed so superbly in Super Rugby. Xavier Numia and Asafo Aumua are there but not Tosi, with the tighthead being omitted from the 23 for the Ireland clash.
We felt Tosi was set for a big 2026 after going up a level in every part of his game this year, but the All Blacks doesn’t seem quite so convinced just yet.
Sam Darry
We’ve talked about Tosi and Sititi but the biggest absence is that of the lock, who has been one of the All Blacks’ best in the games against France and Italy. Darry went 80 minutes in both matches and was critical in delivering quick ball thanks to his abrasiveness in contact and around the breakdown, so to see him not there is rather bemusing.
As mentioned, Tuipulotu will provide physicality, while lock partner Josh Lord gets around the field and Vaa’i, who starts at blindside, has blossomed at Test level over the past two seasons, but Darry offers real dynamism and it could be a huge mistake to leave him out.
Kyle Preston
Another strange decision is not handing Preston any game time in the Nations Championship. Rennie’s explanation for picking Cortez Ratima against Italy was that the Chiefs scrum-half only got five minutes against France and the head honcho wanted to give him a fair crack in Wellington.
Well he did that as Ratima had over a quarter of the game last weekend, but the half-back, despite some nice moments in the latter stages, was still rather ponderous from the base of the ruck. We feel Preston has the game to fill that void behind Cam Roigard, but he has yet to be afforded the chance to prove himself.
Simon Parker
Alongside Preston and Beauden Barrett, they are the only players from the initial 34-man squad not to get a game this month. Parker will get his chance in South Africa during the tour matches but it seems like Rennie does not value him as highly as Scott Robertson.