Former All Blacks highlight three players demanding Dave Rennie's attention

With Dave Rennie’s first All Blacks squad under seven days away from being named, three former All Blacks have discussed three players who are timing their run to perfection.

Rennie, his coaching staff, and NZR Chair David Kirk will name the 34-man squad for the three Nations Championship fixtures in New Zealand starting on July 4 against France.

The Sky Sport Breakdown panel of Jeff Wilson, Mils Muliaina, and Stephen Donald all picked one player that has stood out in recent weeks, staking their claim for Rennie’s first All Blacks squad.

Wilson believes that Du’Plessis Kirifi is one big game away from really putting pressure on Rennie to include him in his 34-man squad.

“I’ve been doing this for 18 months, Du’Plessis Kirifi, because I want the biggest players to perform in the biggest stage, and he was really good at open side,” Wilson said on The Breakdown.

“This is a congested area for the All Blacks, and we know that so much of it comes down to where Dave Rennie sees Ardie Savea and what position he might play.

“But what I saw, was I think him and Peter Lakai just working as a tandem, every ruck was under threat, and I think he got unlucky a couple of times, he was over the ball and got pinged.

“Anytime you’ve got his sort of determination, his ability to support players, conditioning, look, yep, he got a little bit of a taste of it last year, he’ll be better for that, whether he can force his way into the squad, he might just need one big game, and it could be this coming week.”

Another one of the loose-forwards who certainly is in and around Rennie’s selection discussions is Simon Parker, a hard-nosed No.6 that Muliaina believes could bring an edge to the loose-forward mix.

“You’re right, it is congested, and a guy for me, particularly on the weekend that really stood up is Simon Parker,” the former All Black centurion said.

“His stocks have really stood up, but I think with his abilities, he’s big-bodied, he carries hard, and also once again, when you’ve got a Jacobson on the other side, the trio, the mix of that sort of the trio is, as I said, it’s mouth-watering stuff.”

Donald, a former Rugby World Cup-winning first-five for the All Blacks, pinpoints Chiefs winger Leroy Carter as a player who is coming into form when it matters.

“If you’re talking about stocks, it would have been easy to sell your stocks on Leroy Carter. His first touch of the game was that and if there was any question about if he was sluggish or coming back from a hamstring, when you do something like that at that pace at his feet,” Donald said about Carter.

“He played centre for most of game, and yes, he might not be at an All Black centre today, but it’s easy to forget that he was a mainstay, as far as that wing position in the All Blacks goes.

“There’s been a lot of people pop up this year, as far as the wings go, but geez, for 50 minutes, after being out for so long, it’s very impressive.”