LONG READ Dave Rennie and the search for a lucky All Blacks charm at 13

There is a long list of things former All Blacks coach Scott Robertson didn’t get right in his two-year tenure, but chiefly, he didn’t build a team that had either a clear cultural or playing identity.

Again, there is a long list of reasons why he failed to achieve these two key goals, and in the case of the latter, the chief problem was his inability to identify, develop and stick with any one centre.

It was a position which Robertson just couldn’t work out who and what he wanted. It was never clear if he wanted an out-and-out distributor and facilitator, or a smash and bash off-loader.

Did he want strike power and speed, or was he after a genuine play-maker who could make good tactical decisions?

It was impossible to tell what he wanted because his selections were never consistent or seemingly linked to the attack plan.

He started with Rieko Ioane in 2024 but gave up with him by the end of the year. Robinson felt Ioane didn’t know when to pass or how to do it effectively.

At the start of last year he went with the pass and catch skills of Billy Proctor but lost confidence in him through the Rugby Championship when his decision-making and defensive reading were exposed as flawed.

He experimented with Quinn Tupaea who delivered a combination of direct running and neat passing and also gave game time to Leicester Fainga’anuku and Anton Lienert-Brown.

But in 27 Tests in charge, Robertson never worked out who his preferred No 13 was and that failing had a significant bearing on why the All Blacks never built a cohesive and recognisable attack game.
Now that Dave Rennie has taken over, finding the right player at centre to facilitate the sort of attack game he has in mind will be, arguably, one of the great challenges of 2026.

He’s got to do what Robertson never did and make his mind up quickly about who he wants at centre and why.

And what will help him is that Super Rugby has thrown up some answers – or confirmed some obvious All Blacks selections.

Cam Roigard is a non-negotiable at halfback, and Jordie Barrett has had a commanding season at No 12 for the Hurricanes – killing any notion, surely, of shifting him to fullback.

These two are no-brainers and if Rennie is true to his word about picking on form, then it’s hard to see how anyone other than Ruben Love can be picked at first-five, making the critical 9-10-12 axis an all-Hurricanes affair.

These two are no-brainers and if Rennie is true to his word about picking on form, then it’s hard to see how anyone other than Ruben Love can be picked at first-five, making the critical 9-10-12 axis an all-Hurricanes affair.

This naturally leads to Proctor being under heavy consideration as he’s been instrumental in delivering the Hurricanes all-court attack, and he’s combined effortlessly with Barrett in a way they never did when they were All Blacks’ midfield partners last year.

The 66-12 qualifying final demolition of the Brumbies showcased the Hurricanes super simple attack game at its best, and Proctor played a huge part in generating the flow.

But then there is the form of Tupaea, who has been outstanding for the Chiefs both at 12 and 13. He’s more direct and powerful than Proctor, comes with soft hands and clever offloads, and is an improving defender.

Proctor and Tupaea are the two leading domestic cases, as Rennie is unlikely to be swayed by Fainga’aunuku as a 13. The Crusaders utility doesn’t defend well enough to be a Test option at centre and is presumably being lined up as an option at wing or flanker where he has mostly played this year.

The prospect of Rennie picking a wild card is slim because the options are slim. Daniel Rona has barely played, and AJ Lam, Brayden Ennor, Dallas McLeod and Riley Higgins are leaving.
There are, however, two other options who didn’t play in Super Rugby as they were on sabbatical.

The first of those is Lienert-Brown who, co-incidentally, was at Kobe where Rennie has been coaching. The veteran has reportedly been in good form, but it would seem a tough and politically unpopular call for Rennie to start the July Tests with a player who hadn’t been playing in New Zealand – especially when Tupaea and Proctor have delivered the way they have.

And then, of course, there is Ioane – who has been at Leinster and playing to mixed reviews. “He wasn’t in the top physical condition or form coming over. And he’s been slow, to be honest. He was very slow,” said former Ireland player turned analyst Bernard Jackman recently.

There is an unwritten rule that senior All Blacks who are granted sabbaticals, are picked when they return almost regardless of how they have played while they have been offshore, because if they are left out, it will kill the whole programme.

“I just think over the last three weeks, Rieko has performed much better. He’s had a big impact in the game. He made a try-saving tackle last week to keep Leinster in it.

“Last play of the game against Toulon [Champions Cup semi-final], the force of turnover. If he hadn’t made that tackle, Leinster would have been out. And the weekend against the Lions, he scored a couple of tries.”

There is an unwritten rule that senior All Blacks who are granted sabbaticals, are picked when they return almost regardless of how they have played while they have been offshore, because if they are left out, it will kill the whole programme.

The top players have an expectation that leaving for six months with their employer’s permission will not cost them their All Blacks’ place.

So Ioane is likely to be included in the 34-man July squad, but Rennie is going to have to make two big calls: is the 29-year-old a centre or a wing? And is Ioane still good enough to play Test rugby irrespective of position?

The All Blacks will pick 34 players for the July leg of the Nations Championship, 44 for the Greatest Rivalry Tour to South Africa and 34 for the November leg of the Nations Championship.

By November, the squeeze will be on because inevitably some new players will emerge from the South African tour, and Richie Mo’unga will be available which will force someone to be cut for him to be included.

And then the question will be whether there is room for all of Proctor, Tupaea, Lienert-Brown and Ioane?

The answer to that question and indeed the more specific one about who Rennie will pick at centre is linked directly to what sort of attack patterns are employed.

Rennie has picked Mike Blair to organise and run the attack and the former Scotland halfback has not given much away to date.

In the few interviews he’s done since being appointed, he has said: “In terms of game strategy, how do you use your kicking game to turn a team, to get them to kick back to you to break the game up again so that you get these one on ones in wide channels.

A big part of our game is how we can de-structure the defence, so we talk about turnover ball, we talk about creating counter-attack ball and to do that obviously you need good tacklers or a defence that’s able to force errors.

Mike Blair

“Because if you stagnate your attack and you keep playing, you’re going to lose the ball eventually.

“A big part of our game is how we can de-structure the defence, so we talk about turnover ball, we talk about creating counter-attack ball and to do that obviously you need good tacklers or a defence that’s able to force errors.

“But equally you’ve got to kick to the opposition to get them to kick back to you so that you find the unstructured defences as well.

“That ability to move the ball is something that is traditionally big amongst the New Zealand attack because there’re so many good individuals.”

The mention of a structured kicking game being a big part of the plan gives a clue as to what they are looking for at numbers nine, 10 and 12.

And the talk of wanting to counterattack well is an insight into how the All Blacks pick their back three, but it’s not clear yet what sort of skill-sets Rennie will see as paramount for his preferred centre to possess.

Whatever he’s thinking, it seems obvious that the likely answers are Tupaea and Proctor – and that the All Blacks need to give them the majority of game time at centre in July and see which one best facilitates the new attack plan.

So too will their defensive work come under scrutiny, but the attack will have the higher weighting as this is the area of the game where the All Blacks have got the greatest upside.

But above all else, Rennie just needs to be consistent and aligned with his selections and by the World Cup he should have the answer that Robertson never managed to find.