All Blacks coach on Sam Darry: 'We've just got amazing depth in that position'

From starring in the first three Tests of Dave Rennie’s reign as head coach of the All Blacks, to missing out on back-to-back squads, Blues lock Sam Darry has dropped down the pecking order.

The 12-Test Canterbury lock impressed Rennie and the All Blacks coaching staff in their July Nations Championship fixtures against France, Italy, and Ireland, before starting the final two Tests against South Africa in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

Darry returned to the Hilux NPC competition after the RGR tour, and made an immediate impact with Canterbury, helping them to a title victory over Northland at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch.

In the recent Bledisloe Cup series, Canterbury teammate Jamie Hannah was called up over Darry, with the same result in Tuesday’s Nations Championship 36-man squad for the end-of-year tour.

Hannah and Darry both lined up for their province on Labour Day Monday in the NPC final, but only one could make the All Blacks squad.

Rennie, addressing media at their Auckland hotel on Tuesday, said the lock selections were among the more difficult decisions.

“Yeah, look, he’s [Darry] unlucky because he’s played a lot of good footy for us, and that was a message to him,” the All Blacks head coach said.

“We’ve just got amazing depth in that position all of a sudden, obviously with Scooter coming back, and then the quality of the other locks that we got there.

“We really like Jamie Hannah. Good athlete, really good lineout forward, runs the line out well, and he’s got a bit of a dark side around carry, clean, tackle.

‘So yeah, look, it’s tough on Sam. It would probably be the most competitive spot in our side, and he’s really unlucky to miss out.”

Having challenged his players after the Greatest Rivalry Tour to respond against Australia in the Bledisloe Cup, Rennie said the feeling around the upcoming four Tests is about improving after each game.

“I mean, the focus is just getting better, and we’re really disappointed post South Africa, but the only way you can respond is through performance.

“It’s easy to get an edge at Eden Park and try to secure the Bledisloe Cup, and so what was impressive in Sydney is that we talked a lot about our standards and where we want to get to, and we probably muddled our way through a little bit and just left a few opportunities out there early in the second half.

“But the first half was excellent, and so we want to be able to build on that. There’s strong competition for places, and that helps as well.”