World Cup winner’s verdict on whether Ruben Love is ready for All Blacks
Rugby World Cup winner Cory Jane believes Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love is in the mix to debut for the All Blacks later this year after a strong start to the Super Rugby Pacific season.
Love, 22, has already played for both the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks XV but now appears destined for more honours after a phenomenal run of form with the table-topping Hurricanes.
Playing out the back in the No. 15 jersey, the playmaker has been solid under the high ball, quite smart around the field of play, and is ranked in the top 10 for clean breaks in the competition.
With Will Jordan set to miss the entirety of the Crusaders’ season, there has been plenty of chatter about Love’s credentials as an All Blacks candidate. But with each performance, the calls for Love to enter the Test arena seem to be getting louder and louder.
England are set to tour New Zealand in July, and while Beauden Barrett is the incumbent at fullback, Hurricanes assistant coach Cory Jane couldn’t fault how “awesome” Love has been this season.
“I hope so,” Jane said on Weekend Sport with Jason Pine on Sunday when asked if Ruben Love will be an All Black this year.
“I help out with Tyler (Bleyendaal) with the backs… I think Kini (Naholo), Josh Moorby, Billy Proctor… if I had my time picking the All Blacks.
“I think Rubes is up there as well. He’s playing some fantastic rugby.
“The coolest thing about him is everything we talked about and trained in pre-season, he’s doing it in games. It’s just not like, ‘How am I going to get better?’ Some players will ask for feedback and you give it to them and then keep on doing the same things.
“He’s trying to get better by listening to feedback but actually going out there and actually training it and putting it out there on the field.
“He’s been awesome this year.”
Love has played an integral role in the Hurricanes’ flawless start to the season, with the men from New Zealand’s capital occupying pole position on the ladder with a perfect 6-0 record.
The Hurricanes’ only real blip was in the second round against the Queensland Reds, with that match going to extra time at Melbourne’s AAMI Park during Super Round.
But big wins over the Western Force, Melbourne Rebels and Highlanders, and hard-fought victories over the Blues and Crusaders, have seen the Canes emerge as competition favourites.
Just last week, coach Clark Laidlaw made 12 changes to the starting 15 only for the Hurricanes to go on and dominate New Zealand rivals the Highlanders 47-12 away from home in Dunedin.
“Most of the guys that played last night had played games before,” Jane explained when asked about the squad rotation.
“Then you saw guys step in in that Rebels game and take the opportunities. It put pressure on the squad that you’ve got to train well but you’ve also got to put it out on the weekend. It was good to see the guys do that last night.
“It’s early days… there’s going to be a bit of challenging times with us playing games and we might lose a few and guys play bad or average. You’ve just got to rely on the squad to keep turning up and getting better.
“It’s pleasing so far.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
7 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
203 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
2 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
7 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
7 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
7 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
203 Go to comments