'Sweating': All Blacks boss on McKenzie, Jordan and Roigard's injury worries

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has provided updates on where his squad is at seven days out from the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.

Rennie’s side will take on Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks on the back of six straight wins, three in July as part of the Nations Championship, before beating the Stormers, Sharks, and now the Bulls.

The All Blacks will head to Johannesburg to take on the Springboks in the first Test, and could be without a couple of their stars, including Will Jordan, Cameron Roigard, and Damian McKenzie.

McKenzie came off against the Sharks with an ankle injury after falling awkwardly, playing on for approximately 15 minutes before eventually leaving the field.

Roigard hasn’t featured for the All Blacks on Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour so far, with Kyle Preston and Cortez Ratima taking the chunk of the No.9 minutes.

Jordan is also yet to take the field in South Africa in 2026, nursing a back issue.

Speaking to Justin Marshall on Sky Sport, Rennie outlined where their squad is at, and the health of his three stars.

“Pretty confident [in his team selection]. We’re confident that Cam and Will will come right,” the All Blacks head coach said in Pretoria.

“Damian, maybe we’re sweating on a tad, but still think he’ll be right.

“So they’ll make a difference.”

In his post-match press conference, Rennie elaborated on the likelihood of them being picked against the Springboks.

“Yeah both Will and Cam got through a bit of training yesterday, and we’re pretty confident they’re going to be right by next week.

“Like both of them, we want to have a full week of training. So yeah, certainly ticking enough boxes and Damian’s the other one who, yeah, like we’re probably less confident about Damian, but still think he’s a good chance to play on the weekend.

“We’ll get a little bit into him tomorrow, and then, hopefully, he’ll train well on Tuesday. So yeah, the expectation is that all three of those guys will be available.”

If McKenzie was to be ruled out with an ankle sprain, the all-important No.15 jersey would be up for grabs, with the likely contenders including Beauden Barrett and Josh Moorby.

Rennie has also played Chiefs outside-back Emoni Narawa at fullback in both of his appearances off the bench in the tour games, and could be asked to feature after Caleb Clarke was ruled out for the rest of the tour.

Moorby started the first tour game at fullback against the Stormers, and could provide the All Blacks with solid cover in the outside-back positions.

Barrett, who started at No.10 against the Stormers, and then at fullback against the

The All Blacks coaching staff called in Richie Mo’unga into the All Blacks squad earlier this week, bringing the touring playmakers contingent to four, with Barrett, Love and Jacomb.

Mo’unga, who left New Zealand on Thursday NZT, won’t feature in the first Test, Rennie said.

“He arrived late last night, very excited and jumping out of his skin. He’s already done a fair bit of study, and we’ll spend the next week with him getting his head around our game.

“We won’t pick him in the first test. He’s a chance to get some game time against Lions.”