James Parsons: Seven players that fit Dave Rennie’s bespoke selection model

Former All Blacks hooker James Parsons has dug deep into the stats to determine who Dave Rennie may pick in his first squad, if his B.I.G.G.A strategy is a focal point in the selections.

Back In Game Go Again [B.I.G.G.A] signals players’ work ethic and willingness to get off the line defensively, and the number of repeated actions on both sides of the ball.

Parsons has used stats from RugbyPass, to decipher which players lead these specific stats so far in the Super Rugby Pacific 2026 competition.

“It’s an awesome stat, because it’s easy, you know if you’ve done it or you haven’t, and yeah, it’s it’s one that the teams that do it well, if you’ve got everyone over 85%, I don’t see how you lose games in rugby, you’re just going to be first,” Parsons said on The Aotearoa Rugby Pod which can be found on RugbyPass TV.

“Rugby is all about who sets first. So, on attack, if you set first, you know you’ve got time on the ball to manipulate the defence from the pictures you see. If you set first in defence, now you’ve got time on your feet to shut down time and space and bang guys over.

“And then the breakdown is where it all happens, and if you’re winning that against your opposition, it’s smooth sailing, so it’s really exciting.

“I think it’s a great step for fans to know that’s important to Dave Rennie, because when watching these Test matches, they’ll be able to go, oh yeah, he’s not getting his B.I.G.G.A done.”

The current Sky Sport analyst explained that loose-forwards are often at the top of the stat sheet for this model, due to their number of tackles made, carries with ball in hand, and rucks hit.

No.1 on the list is Chiefs loose-forward Wallace Sititi, who has grown in form in recent weeks after a slow, injury-affected opening half of the campaign.

Next is Hurricanes co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi, leading his side to the top of the competition after 14 rounds.

The first non-loose-forward of the top five is Hurricanes hooker Asafo Aumua, who will be looking to build on his 20-Tests in the black jersey, the last of which was in November 2024.

“So, Wallace Sititi is the out and out, number one, he is massive in terms of his back to back efforts, both on attack and defence and I think that’s what Razor picked him for.

“It’s both sides of the ball, his back to back efforts are huge, so he’s one, Du’Plessis Kirifi, I mean, this will be no surprise to people. Kirifi is another one. As is Asafo Aumua is probably playing the best footy, I think we’ve all seen, but man, he is fit.

“He is getting back in the game like no one else. Peter Lakai is another one, Christian Lio-Willie from the Crusaders, and then Sam Darry from the Blues, and then Angus Ta’avao, the Gussie, he is a B.I.G.G.A specialist.”