The All Blacks with the most to prove in South Africa

The All Blacks have three URC games before the first Test against the Springboks and one more between Tests 1 and 2, giving every member of the 44-man squad the chance to stake their claim on a starting jersey for the big games.

One of the big takeaways from the myriad stories that have emerged from players coached by Dave Rennie in the past is that the new All Blacks boss will go out of his way to reward form and kill complacency.

Sam Cane recently highlighted that in 2013, Rennie’s Chiefs didn’t select the same starting XV in back-to-back games until the Super Rugby semi-final and final. Previously, Wallabies players have told of Rennie making changes to selected teams during the week when he wasn’t satisfied with the intensity at training.

To begin his All Blacks tenure, the coach has steadily rotated his squad to provide opportunities and looks set to field all available players over the next three games.

Some players put their best foot forward in July, with Sam Darry enjoying a breakout campaign for the Kiwi outfit, Luke Jacobson finally having the chance to show his mettle, Josh Moorby making a stellar debut, and Damian McKenzie reminding everyone how dangerous he is at fullback.

Others were not so convincing, and many more missed squad selection in the first instance. These are the All Blacks who have the most to prove on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.

The Legend

Beauden Barrett has to be the first name on this list. With 144 Test caps, he sits third in the all-time ranks for the All Blacks, four shy of Richie McCaw and nine shy of Sam Whitelock. Should he play six more Tests, he will become the fourth player ever, and the first back ever, to play 150 Tests.

That’s a lot of history that could remain agonisingly out of reach if Barrett can’t find form against the Stormers this weekend.

No one will need reminding that Richie Mo’unga is back in New Zealand and now eligible for the All Blacks after his match-winning performance for Canterbury last weekend, and no one will need convincing that Ruben Love has made a compelling start to his time in the black No.10 shirt. With McKenzie starring in three backfield starts during July, a selection pinch is coming.

Can Barrett overcome some unconvincing form during the Blues’ season to remind the world why he is a back-to-back World Rugby Player of the Year? Or will the fact that the first of those awards is now a decade ago be brought to light and signal the end of one of rugby’s great Test careers ahead of a Rugby World Cup? It’s all on the line for Barrett.

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The Cult Hero

Ethan Blackadder is back in black, and if there’s one thing you can guarantee in this unpredictable tour, it’s that the Crusaders workhorse will run himself ragged.

Blackadder’s introduction to the Test arena came with some fanfare, swiftly inspiring Chuck Norris-esque urban myths to spread like wildfire among the well-humoured All Blacks faithful. To be of established rugby pedigree with a rural attitude and a mullet in New Zealand is to be embraced as a national hero.

But we’re well removed from those early days now, and the familiar routine of getting one’s hopes up about the flanker’s international prospects only to read one day that he’s been felled by another calf injury or shoulder strain has eroded that fanfare. It’s not quite a “what-if” scenario, because there have been some highs, but it’s far from the full picture.

Blackadder has earned squad selection ahead of the likes of Du’Plessis Kirifi, Crusaders running mate Christian Lio-Willie and emerging Highlanders star Lucas Casey, but whether this will be a final swing or the start of a Test resurgence is what this weekend’s Stormers match will tell us.

Blackadder will come off the bench in Cape Town, with rookie Anton Segner thrust into the starting team after Wallace Sititi’s late withdrawal from the match.

The Tall Timber

Dave Rennie’s tenure kicked off with some buzz around Brodie Retallick being a potential target to return for next year’s Rugby World Cup. Now, that conversation has been buried deep in the turf under Noevir Stadium Kobe, where Retallick will play out his remaining career knowing the Kiwi lock stocks are in a very healthy place.

Five world-class locks are in South Africa competing for minutes, with only three places in the matchday 23 available.

Fabian Holland and Patrick Tuipulotu will get the first chance at auditioning for the role, with Sam Darry awaiting his shot from the bench. Josh Lord and Tupou Vaa’i are likely to be seen in next week’s midweek showdown with the Sharks.

Physicality will be the name of the game for the engine room in South Africa, and Darry led the way in that department during the recent Super Rugby Pacific season, making dominant contact in 6.8 per cent of his 14.5 tackles per 80 minutes. Lord was next-best, with 5.6 per cent dominant contact in his 13.3 tackles per game, then Vaa’i at 5.4 per cent on 11 tackles, and Tuipulotu at 4.6 per cent on 11 tackles also.

On attack, Darry also leads the way with a 24.2 per cent dominant carry rate, while Vaa’i is close behind with 23.4 per cent, Tuipulotu sits on 18.8 per cent, and Lord managed dominant contact in 14.3 per cent of his carries.

Holland missing the entire Super Rugby season with a shoulder injury obviously leaves him light on match fitness and with no recent form to judge.

The best-case scenario is Scott Barrett returning to full fitness ahead of the Bledisloe Cup Tests in October, making for another selection headache when Rennie needs to not only trim his squad back to the usual size, but potentially add the former team captain for the final six games of the year at the expense of one of the current group.

The Former Teen Sensation

Rieko Ioane was once the star of the All Blacks show, galloping through Test rugby at a rate only Greyhounds could relate to. In July, his omission from Dave Rennie’s first All Blacks squad was the first time he’s missed selection for the team since he was a teenager.

The now 29-year-old prioritised experiencing something new with his sabbatical option at the end of 2025, heading to Dublin for a taste of the Leinster life. Splitting his time between wing and centre, Ioane contributed to a URC title-winning run and scored six tries along the way.

But the wing positions for New Zealand have always been a young man’s game, and even at 29, Ioane is already an outlier in his field. He’ll start on the left edge against the Stormers this weekend with a chance to prove he’s got another World Cup in him, and it’ll take a vintage performance to push his name past any of the emerging or established flyers in the squad. Not to mention, there’s the Caleb Tangitau question hovering over next year’s World Cup.