Selections aside, Dave Rennie is pushing the right buttons with All Blacks

I was just referencing Rassies struggles last year, going expansive then losing to Aussie and going back to traditional strengths before unleashing again against the ABs, then also havening to tussle it out with France etc.

The England games would be a very interesting case, even with Beauden last years team went up by two scores before the injuries. That first game was two scores total, and that was with Dmac who credited with providing much momentum.

Think it’s a good solid team to start, he can give debutants a go around experienced players, those older out of form can gradually hand that jersey to the form players over the next few weeks.

Rennie will give a more clear game plan to run and alternatives compared to Razors “get the ball and play what’s in front of you”

We’re now eagerly waiting for the first team sheet. I can imagine a surprise inclusion of Anton Lienert-Brown. Nothing suggests that Rennie sees Tupaea as a No. 13. Razor did, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Rennie will. In any case, I see ALB at the very least making the bench.

With so few days to prepare for this match, Rennie will likely focus on selecting players who are familiar with each other from their clubs, alongside experienced players.

Perhaps a backline of Fineanganofo, J. Barrett, Lienert-Brown, Moorby, and Jordan or DMK.

Bidwell says “People can’t be picked on reputation or past deeds forever”. That is exactly how BB has been selected for a number of years.

When I take the pulse of the nation and the comments section popular opinion in my opinion with Dupes aside from the versatility stuff it’s a Luke J selection not a Segner one

What I like is, I believe Rens has the ability to see the big picture, execute the details at the micro level and then throw in a “think outside the box” - new perspective.

E.g., Ted as a selector, Steven Adams as a contributor on Captaincy Leadership, and implementing the best game plan based on our available player base and strengths.

And how good would it be to have Brodie in the selection mix - depending on form, for the RWC 2027? He would be the only coach to be able to get Brodie to lace up again.

Hard to properly judge till they’re on the field, but other than Dups (which is more of a positional issue) and maybe Hotham, doesn’t feel like as many controversial omissions. Do agree with ALB and Beaudy being controversial, though from what little I’ve managed to see online, ALB looked good in Japan. Beauden I’m assuming is there for versatility’s sake and while his form fell off a cliff in the second half of the season, I’m wondering if a more open game plan than what he had under Razor and Cotter would help him get back to what he’s good at.

Given the thing that sold NZR on Rennie was that he apparently presented something like 100 video clips explaining how he would’ve fixed last year’s All Blacks, be interesting to see just how different they are in 2026 to the last two years.

Yes, Rennie is doing things the right way. His communication is clear. Now we need to see this first squad and this first game.

And whatever the result, we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions after only 8 days of training. We’ll assess everything at the end of the season.

This initial squad is not the finished article but merely the interim pending the recovery of several currently injured players and the return of overseas players. Rennie has named the best squad he could and there are players within that are on trial and may or may not be successful in the final analysis. There is of course always the spectre of future injuries to consider as well.

Beauden Barrett belongs as of right, years of sub par performances and he still gets picked - NZ Rugby royalty!

Rennie is a likeable guy, but so far it's all the same as Razor and Foster before that. Same nucleus of players, same “be fit, play fast" rhetoric. So let's see. Surprised Hamish, who has been around a while, is getting all giddy about Rennie. Rennie looks so far like Razor 2.0, which, after all, was just Foster 2.0.

It’s hard not to think of that when you see an initial squad of 34 picked to play the first three Tests of this season and contemplate that 44 players will then tour South Africa.

No.

No. It’s hard to think about a smaller squad. It’s hard not to think that the biggest naming day of the year, the equivalent of footballs closing transfer window day, or the NFL draft day, should be more than 34 players. It should contain ALL the players that the All Blacks will use through the int season. Combine all the excitement of the squad namings from all 3 int windows into one. Give it time to cook and actually consider whats happened in the Finals series. Then create a new method of selecting a small match week squad (when at home).

Rassies 3 test July squad was 46.