The verdict on Ruben Love from Rennie and Savea after first No.10 start

All Blacks new first five Ruben Love has been prasied by his coach and captain following his first run in the No.10 jersey in the 34-32 win over France.

The 25-year-old previously had two starts at fullback for the All Blacks and a few appearances from the bench but much was expected from Love after guiding the Hurricanes to a Super Rugby title.

His night began with a yellow card in just the second minute for a high tackle in the backfield as the All Blacks struggled to get a grip on the match in the first 20 minutes.

But when Love returned the All Blacks were able to find a rhythm and climb out of a 10-5 deficit to take a 19-13 lead at half-time.

“Really pleased for him. He’s impressive young man, he’s very confident, he’s taking control, doesn’t mind bossing around some of the old fellows. Yes, I’m really, really pleased for Ruben,” Rennie said.

The new No.10 found his way into the game running the shape, connecting with Jordie Barrett well with short passes. On his second touch in phase play he put Damian McKenzie through for a line break, two phases later Peter Lakai ran in a try round by the posts down the left edge.

On his first run of the night off a quick lineout on a kick return, he split the French open with a big left foot step and found Josh Lord for a half break. The tempo attack worked the ball down inside the five before a wayward back shoulder pass from Lakai to De Groot resulted in a knock-on.

On a scrum play sweeping wide to the left he skinned the French centre and Penaud, drifting through the line to start another 22 entry.

In the second half there was one game management blemish between Roigard and Love where the No.9 took a quick tap around halfway only for Love to kick possession away two phases later.

“There was one time where we’re probably overly optimist that we get a penalty and we had two [attackers] and they had four [defenders], but yeah, like I thought we were able to play with a really high tempo behind a quick ball, almost 85% which is just outrageous,” Rennie said.

It was an error-free, mature, composed performance by Love to finish the first half. When the frantic play broke down, it was a result of a pushed pass wider out in the movement.

Rennie highlighted that he wanted the side to find more balance between going for width and through the middle.

“So I thought we did a lot of really good things with the ball, but we just needed to play through them a little bit more. Their big men were tiring and they were able to play high on the edge, and you know, we made a few errors here, so can’t fault the effort.

“I love the mindset, just got to be a lot more accurate.”

There was less touches for Love in the second half as Roigard took control, but overall it was an impressive outing for Love that promises so much more.

Captain Ardie Savea was equally happy with how his No.10 organised the troops.

“Ruben [Love] took control, really direct in his messaging and what we needed to do next, so like Ren’s said, really proud of the mindset and the effort.”