Dave Rennie has already picked his team for Springboks showdown as All Blacks boss details how travel disruptions have influenced selections
All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett and an inset of head coach Dave Rennie.
Beauden Barrett will start the All Blacks’ first game of the Greatest Rivalry Series, Dave Rennie has confirmed while revealing how travel disruptions have influenced his selections.
The head coach has confirmed that the matchday 23s for the first four matches in South Africa have already been selected well in advance of the team’s arrival. This is a necessary evil with the All Blacks forced to make alternative travel plans after initially booking flights through Dubai. Now, the team will fly via Singapore, Hong Kong and Perth.
Beauden Barrett to start his first match under Dave Rennie
Due to the different arrival dates, Rennie and his staff have been forced to make selection calls well in advance, and the head coach has revealed at least one of them, with Barrett starting the clash against the Stormers in Cape Town.
“So Beauden will start against the Stormers; there you go, there is a little leg up,” he said when asked about uncapped rookie Josh Jacomb’s inclusion in the squad and how it influences Barrett’s chances.
“Look, I’ve said it before, Beauden really impressed me; he is training superbly, his contribution has been excellent, very professional. He’s been incredibly supportive of Ruben [Love].
“It’s tough for him because he’s probably trained well enough to get an opportunity, but we felt that Ruben needed time in the seat and he’s done a really good job there, so Beauden gets his opportunity against the Stormers and is keen to rip in.”
All Blacks’ travel disruptions
Love was the go-to selection at fly-half for all three of New Zealand’s Nations Championship matches in July with Damian McKenzie selected at full-back. That meant that there was no need for fly-half cover on the bench, with Will Jordan offering full-back cover in all three matches too.
Barrett, therefore, missed all three fixtures and will now make his first appearance under Rennie in the opener against the Stormers.
“Yes, we have,” the head coach replied when asked if he has selected the rest of the team to face the Stormers.
“Look, we put a lot of time into this. We picked the 44 a long time ago, and there hasn’t been a lot of footy between when we picked the 44 and now. We had some really strong opinions around that.
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“The way we’re travelling, we were due to go through Dubai and obviously, with what’s happened over there, the flights got changed two or three months ago. We are now on multiple flights, one through Singapore, one through Perth, and one through Hong Kong. And we’re going at different stages.
“So 30 people will be travelling on Thursday, and we have decided to leave 23 at home and with seven staff. So those guys will play the Stormers. We had to pick the first Test team and then try and work back to make sure we’re sharing the load and to come up with a 23 that would stay. So complicated probably, but it allows that group to have one extra training day and preparation, and then they’ll arrive in Cape Town on a Friday and have a full week to prepare for the Stormers.”
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Test team has been selected
While Rennie has picked the teams for the first four matches in South Africa, against the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and the first Test versus the Springboks, he says there is some flexibility.
“Even the Test team that we picked, we picked it before the Irish Test, so that may change a little bit,” he confirmed.
“But everyone will play in those first three games, which is great, and we’re going to share the load.”
One of the players who will miss the first three matches against the URC teams is captain Ardie Savea, who will only arrive in South Africa 10 days ahead of the first Test match. The back-rower has been given time off before the series versus the Springboks, having played and trained non-stop since January last year.
