Five All Blacks talking points from the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry squad

Dave Rennie’s 44-man All Blacks squad was unveiled on Monday, and while it featured just three new faces, it inevitably raised plenty more eyebrows.

Du’Plessis Kirifi’s omission was the big talking point for many fans, with the Hurricanes co-captain having just led his team to a historically dominant Super Rugby Pacific final win, just months after wrapping his first season in black. But there is much more to read into with this 44-man list.

What did Rennie prioritise in his selections? Who of the newcomers is best-placed to compete for minutes in the Tests? Will a certain Canterbury first-five get a call-up?

Here are five talking points from Monday’s announcement.

Three Nines

Noah Hotham was one of the surprise omissions from the All Blacks’ July squad, and was largely expected to join the team for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series. That expectation, however, was based on the assumption selectors would call on a fourth halfback.

It’s a fair assumption to make, given having just three specialist halfbacks in your squad leaves Rennie needing to field players in back-to-back games, both midweek and on the weekend. Taking just three halfbacks on a long tour is not unheard of, with the British & Irish Lions opting for that option on last year’s Australian tour — although that was a 38-man squad, not 44.

Hotham has clear X-factor, and is now two years removed from his All Blacks debut against Fiji in San Diego, but has only managed to play two Tests in the intervening time, with injuries disrupting his momentum.

Rennie described Hotham as the “obvious choice” for a would-be fourth halfback, adding that he sees Leroy Carter as a “genuine option” to cover the position should they want a versatile player off the bench.

Without the 23-year-old Crusader to call upon, Rennie’s halfbacks can expect a heavy workload to begin the tour, especially Cortez Ratima and Kyle Preston, who emerged from the July Tests light on game time; Ratima won just 36 minutes behind Cam Roigard, and Preston was left out entirely.

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Four 10s

With Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett already in the squad jostling for minutes, adding a fourth No.10 could be seen as a low-priority selection. And yet, Josh Jacomb’s name was called on Monday.

Had all three of the initial 10s been used in July, perhaps Jacomb’s inclusion would have come as less of a surprise. But Barrett missed selection in all three games, signalling a tight rotation as it is.

Rennie told The Breakdown he’ll be treating Jacomb as an option at both 10 and 15, with Barrett seen as just a No.10 option. McKenzie, meanwhile, started exclusively at fullback and Love exclusively at 10 throughout the July Tests, with former starting fullback Will Jordan now back on the wing.

Jacomb’s inclusion comes after just two seasons as a full-time Super Rugby player, having been named in the Chiefs’ wider training group in 2024 after a breakout season with Taranaki the year prior. He’s started for the Barbarians and All Blacks XV, and is just two months younger than teammate Ruben Love.

Rennie has revealed that Barrett will start the first game of the tour against the Stormers, with games against the Sharks and Bulls also before the first Test, and then a midweek matchup with the Lions between Tests one and two.

The extra body also, most interestingly, means it’s far less likely that an injury elsewhere in the backline would be used as an excuse to bring in Richie Mo’unga. In this sense, All Blacks selectors have signalled that working Mo’unga into the squad is not high on their agenda for this tour, instead taking the opportunity to invest in Jacomb as a prospect.

It now seems most likely we will see Mo’unga in Canterbury colours for nine-odd weeks of the NPC season before a likely call-up for the Bledisloe Cup squad just ahead of the NPC playoffs.

Who Is First In The Second Row

The July Tests taught us a lot about the new All Blacks, but who Rennie’s preferred lock partnership is is not included in that bracket.

Tupou Vaa’i missed the first Test through injury, started the second in the No.5 jersey and jumped into the loose forwards for game three. Patrick Tuipulotu missed the first two games and then started when he returned against Ireland. Sam Darry had two starts before dropping out altogether. And finally, Josh Lord started against France, dropped to the bench against Italy and then started again against Ireland.

To add to an already blurry picture, Fabian Holland has returned from a shoulder injury and will be eager to return to the form that saw him crowned World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year last season.

Vaa’i started all seven of his Tests last year before succumbing to injury; Holland started all but two of his 12 Tests in his rookie season; Patrick Tuipulotu started twice in July and came off the bench three times in The Rugby Championship before leaving the team with an injury; Josh Lord made just one appearance off the bench before the aforementioned injuries hit, and then started twice and came off the bench twice more; and Sam Darry appeared just twice off the bench after returning from an injury of his own and replacing the injured Vaa’i and Tuipulotu.

So, where do things stand heading into ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’? The second row is perhaps the most uncertain of Rennie’s selections, with five starting-calibre players en route to South Africa in the coming weeks.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

4

Draws

0

Wins

1

Average Points scored

24

17

First try wins

40%

Home team wins

60%

No Plan B

While Rennie’s All Blacks chart a course firmly away from a heavy contestable kicking game, Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks are making no such changes.

In July, South Africa kicked more than any team, piling pressure on opposing backfields — an area New Zealand has not fared so well in over recent seasons.

But, even with that fact squarely in mind, All Blacks selectors haven’t strayed from the usual selection frame, and certainly haven’t gone out of their way to select a high-ball athlete who they could call upon should things get dire in that contest during the four Tests.

Josh Jacomb, Rieko Ioane and Emoni Narawa are the relevant new selections here. Jacomb is the most likely to find himself in the backfield as 10 or 15 cover, and while courage may be his greatest attribute, it’s fair to say he’s missing the physical attributes that would make him a Test-level aerial athlete. Ioane has never particularly impressed under the high ball, and doesn’t cover fullback. Narawa ticks some of those boxes in a promising way, but hasn’t dealt with that battle to the extent experienced fullbacks like Chay Fihaki, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, or even Zarn Sullivan have.

Rassie Erasmus isn’t one to shy away from abusing an advantage, and should he find one through the boot of his halves duo, it’ll be a long Test series for 177 cm Damian McKenzie and 183 cm Ruben Love.

What may be instilling confidence in Rennie’s ability to defuse the contestable kicking game is the tactic of using retreating defenders to compete in the air, leaving the backfield players in place as a final line of defence. Jordie Barrett and Josh Moorby found success collecting those balls in the Nations Championship, while Will Jordan dropped a couple in Wellington.

Muscle Men

Of all of the players at Dave Rennie’s disposal heading into a tour against the Springboks, Semisi Ta’eiloa and Timoci Tavatavanawai are the two names you’d put forward first to combat South Africa’s size.

The No.8 has been one of Super Rugby’s most dominant players in the collision area since his 2025 debut, thriving with the ball in hand and producing big numbers on the defensive end. Listed at 113 kg, the 22-year-old is a power athlete with a rare ability to gain post-contact metres.

All of the above also applies to Tavatavanawai, who beat a remarkable 81 defenders in his 13 games for the Highlanders this year, by far the most in Super Rugby Pacific.

Can the same be said for the snubbed Du’Plessis Kirifi? The man selected ahead of him, Ethan Blackadder, had a Super Rugby-leading 20 dominant tackles this season, while Kirifi made just seven, placing him outside of the top 50 for the category. The Hurricanes captain is known as a bloodhound around the breakdown, but after winning 23 turnovers last season, that figure dropped to 11 in 2026. While his accuracy on the defensive end is among the best, it does appear Kirifi is missing the physical presence that this stats-minded head coach requires, while underperforming in his familiar strengths.