‘He gets penalised’: Rennie’s blunt explanation for Du’Plessis Kirifi’s continued omission

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has explained why Hurricanes co-captain Du’Plessis Kirifi continues to miss selection, comparing him to the other openside flankers in his squad.

Kirifi last played for the All Blacks on their end-of-year Northern Tour in 2025, featuring in the 52-26 victory over Wales in Cardiff.

The No.7 was tipped for selection at the start of Rennie’s reign, but missed out on the 34-man July Nations Championship squad before being excluded from the South Africa tour and Bledisloe Cup series.

With loose-forward injuries, including All Blacks captain Ardie Savea and Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson, many expected the eight-Test openside flanker to be called upon.

But Rennie opted for Simon Parker, Wallace Sititi, Peter Lakai, Ethan Blackadder, Anton Segner, and Shannon Frizell for his loose-forward mix, leaving Kirifi to find form for the struggling Wellington Hilux NPC outfit.

Answering fans’ questions on Newstalk ZB’s Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, Rennie addressed the lingering question about Kirifi.

“Look, he’s [Kirifi] an excellent player. But if he was the best seven in the country in our opinion, we would have picked him,” Rennie told Newstalk ZB.

“And so I think post tackle is his point of difference, and the feedback we’ve given Dupes is around technique and trying to be a lot more flawless there.”

The All Blacks head coach compares Kirifi’s stats to Segner, highlighting a difference in their discipline.

“So he gets penalised as many times as he does rewarded, versus someone like Anton Segner, who got 22 turnovers, and got penalised twice during Super Rugby, and at the higher you go, the tougher the referees are around you being legal.

“So, and look, we’ve got, you know, good players who can cover that position. We’ve used Pete Lakai there. We’ve obviously used Ardie there. So look, it’s competitive, which is really positive from our point of view.”

Another popular selection debate has been around 145-Test All Black first-five Beauden Barrett, who was named in the outside backs for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup series.

But for Rennie, who has featured Barrett in all of his three squads so far in 2026, he still has faith in the veteran playmaker going forward.

“I hadn’t coached Beauden before this and coached against him a lot. Geez, he’s impressive. He trains the house down, and he’s a big driver of the culture and the legacy.

“The amount of assistance he gave Ruben through sitting down a lot and really opening up and sharing with him and the guy that he’s competing with.

“It was really impressive, and so he’s a really good man. I think that we played him a fair bit of 15 in Africa, and he played really well. I still think he’s got a massive amount to offer for the black jersey.”