Why Brad Weber predicted Luke Jacobson would start for Rennie's All Blacks

Dave Rennie’s loose-forward trio was one of the most unexpected selections in his first All Blacks team naming, with all three picks piquing the public’s interest for different reasons.

While Peter Lakai and Ardie Savea’s selections raised eyebrows for their placements on different sides of the scrum than what’s been most familiar to them in recent seasons, Luke Jacobson’s selection at openside comes 643 days after his last All Blacks appearance, and 714 days since his last Test start.

Both Jacobson’s back half of the 2024 All Blacks season and the entirety of the 2025 Test campaign were derailed by injuries, casting uncertainty over his standing in the previous coaching regime’s hierarchy.

But that didn’t cause former Chiefs co-captain Brad Weber any hesitation when predicting his starters for the first Test of the year, using his experience under Dave Rennie in Super Rugby to identify Jacobson as the type of player the coach would appreciate.

“I thought Luke Jacobson is very much a Dave Rennie guy; he’s hard-working, his work at the breakdown around clean-out is probably the best in the country for our loose forwards, and I know Dave really values that,” Weber told Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB. “His work rate around the field is also one of the best going around. So, him, in particular, I was really excited about.”

With captain Ardie Savea a guaranteed selection, Weber saw the final loose forward position going to Peter Lakai.

“It’s hard to deny Peter Lakai’s form for the Hurricanes this year, so I thought he deserved a crack,” Weber added.

The 18-cap All Black, when reflecting on his experience under Rennie at the Chiefs, shared his enthusiasm for the coach’s transparency around selections and his form-first policy. Weber said that policy was evident in the selection of Ruben Love at No.10, despite the 25-year-old’s lack of Test experience compared to his playmaking counterparts in the team.

“The thing that I always loved about Rens when he was coaching me was that he would always reward form. It didn’t matter if you were an established All Black or a rookie; if you were playing the best and he thought you would do a good job for the team, then he had no issue starting you.

“So this certainly signals that, and mate, you can’t deny Ruben’s form during Super Rugby. Also, I think these are the perfect Tests to give him a crack in the No.10 jersey with a small eye toward the South Africa tour coming up. I think if you give him a crack now, a couple of Tests while he’s in red-hot form, and then reassess for the South African Tests.

“You already know what Damian (McKenzie) and Beuaden (Barrett) can do in the No.10 jersey, so these are the Tests to give Ruben hopefully a bit of confidence and keep that competition in amongst our N0.10s. I think it’s great.”

Weber made his loose forward prediction on this week’s episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod, which you can watch in full on RugbyPass TV.