Following the announcement of Dave Rennie’s All Blacks squad for the northern leg of the Nations Championship, here are our winners and losers from the selections.
Winnners
George Bell
A beneficiary of Samisoni Taukei’aho’s injury, George Bell is recalled to the All Blacks squad, and while he is getting the nod at another hooker’s expense, he certainly deserves the shot.
Bell was named in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry touring squad earlier this year but sustained a calf injury in training before the first fixture and returned home.
Commenting on the injury at the time, Rennie said: “He’s had a frustrating past few months with injury so it’s a real blow for him to have injured his calf again. We look forward to seeing him return via the NPC and put himself in a position to push for All Blacks selection later in the year.”
And Bell did precisely that with a particularly impressive performance in the NPC final for Canterbury. At 24, he is a young front rower and an extended run in the squad could do his international ambitions a world of good. It also means that the All Blacks coaching team gets a proper look at him after his setback earlier this year.
Richie Mo’unga
During the Bledisloe Cup Test matches, Rennie said that there was a chance that Richie Mo’unga would not be fit at all for the November internationals after the fly-half suffered a calf tear in training ahead of the first Test against Australia.
However, the playmaker looks to be tracking in the right direction for a return ahead of schedule. After naming his squad, the head coach confirmed that the first game against Scotland would be too soon for Mo’unga, who could well return for the following matches against Wales and England before the finals’ weekend.
It’s a boost not only for the All Blacks but for Mo’unga personally, considering the competition for the number 10 jersey. Ruben Love was the go-to first-choice selection for the majority of the international season before injury ruled him out of the Bledisloe Cup Tests, matches that Mo’unga was primed to start in. In his absence, Damian McKenzie impressed, while Josh Jacomb is clearly a player that Rennie and his staff are excited about going forward.
Mo’unga did get starts against the Lions and in the fourth Test against the Springboks but didn’t capitalise on those opportunities as many would have hoped.
Jamie Hannah
Jamie Hannah has twice answered the All Blacks’ SOS this year and is duly rewarded with his first official inclusion in the squad. In July, Patrick Tuipulotu was a late withdrawal from the bench for the Nations Championship clash against France in Christchurch, with Hannah taking his place.
The Crusaders forward was initially named in the squad as injury cover for Tupou Vaa’i but would get 12 minutes off the bench against Les Bleus, but that was the only bit of game time he was afforded. He was then overlooked for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour but called in again as injury cover and would take the field against the Lions, again off the bench, despite touching down late in South Africa.
The All Blacks are spoilt for choice in the second row, highlighted by Sam Darry and Tuipulotu’s absence, which is also a nod to just how deserving of a shot Hannah is. Not only has he taken his opportunities in the black jersey when they have come his way, but he was an important figure in both the Crusaders’ and Canterbury’s seasons this year.
An athletic lock, the 24-year-old has the skill set to be a success at the highest level and could also be an option at blindside flanker. Whilst there is plenty of depth in the second row, the All Blacks’ lineout has been hit and miss this year, and if Hannah can help ease those woes, he could well lock down a place in the squad going forward.
Saula Ma’u
Another area of concern that wasn’t exposed against the Wallabies but was versus the Springboks was the scrum. It’s worth noting that the injury list now features New Zealand’s premier props in Tamaiti Williams and Tyrel Lomax, but November does provide an opportunity for Saula Ma’u to stamp his mark.
At 140kgs, the Highlanders front rower is a proper unit, but it will be his scrummaging ability that will be in the spotlight. He also provided injury cover in South Africa but earns a true call-up for the end-of-year tour.
Like with Hannah, a strong showing next month could do his hopes of further involvement a world of good.
Christian Lio-Willie
One of the players who debuted in Scott Robertson’s first year in charge of the All Blacks, Christian Lio-Willie has been largely overlooked in the past two years but was simply the ‘next cab off the rank’ according to Rennie, considering the team’s ever-growing injury list in the loose forwards.
The list is quite extensive, but Lio-Willie is certainly deserving of his opportunity back in the squad after yet another strong season in Super Rugby Pacific with the Crusaders.
Leicester Fainga’anuku
As much of a win for Rennie and the All Blacks as it is for Leicester Fainga’anuku personally. The head coach has made no secret of his excitement about getting the versatile 27-year-old into the mix with his ability to play flank, centre and wing.
Fainga’anuku broke his leg during the tail-end of the Crusaders’ Super Rugby season and missed the first eight games of Tasman’s NPC season. He subsequently missed the tour to South Africa, where Rennie hoped to deploy him in the back row, with a concussion seeing him miss the Bledisloe Cup Tests.
During his time in France with RC Toulon, Fainga’anuku was trialled in the loose forwards, and that experiment was taken to another level by Rob Penney, who named him in the famed Crusaders’ seven jumper for the majority of the Super Rugby season. Rennie seems eager to use him off the bench similar to how the Springboks have deployed Andre Esterhuizen, turning a traditional 5-3 bench split into a flexible hybrid 6-2.
The only concern will be the lack of minutes Fainga’anuku has had of late.
“It’s less (playing time) than we would have liked,” Rennie told New Zealand media on Tuesday. “Still, it’s better to have him in the group for the next four or five weeks. He’s in reasonable nick now.”
Chay Fihaki
The inclusion of Chay Fihaki and Hannah in the All Blacks squad proves that the coaching staff was keeping an eye on the NPC action when weighing up their selections.
With the injury to Leroy Carter in the first Test against Australia, many would have predicted that Emoni Narawi would earn a recall to the squad having toured with the team to South Africa.
Instead, it is Fihaki, who impressed for Canterbury in the NPC, who gets the nod after making his Test debut off the bench against the Wallabies after Jordie Barrett’s late withdrawal.
Dave Rennie
The injury list is extensive, but Rennie will still be pleased with the quality that he has at his disposal for the tour of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, he has cast an incredibly wide net over the player pool in his first year in charge, which is incredibly valuable looking ahead to next year’s World Cup.
Well over 50 players will have donned an All Blacks jersey by the end of the year, whether that’s in Test matches or in touring games against the South African URC teams, but more importantly, the staff will have seen those players up close in training too.
Losers
Injured front rowers
Tyrel Lomax is perhaps the headline absentee from the squad named to board the plane north. The tighthead prop has had his fair share of injury concerns over the past 18 months, and Rennie revealed that he has been battling a neck issue of late. When he is at his best, Lomax is one of the premier tighthead props in the game, but we haven’t seen him hit anything near those highs this year.
He was battered in the scrums against South Africa, which led to him being overlooked for the Tests against Australia. Leaving him out of the tour north to recover and come back stronger is a smart move from the coaching team, who will want him and Williams back at their best next year.
Still, the team’s front row stocks have been further bashed by the calf injury Samisoni Taukei’aho has sustained and the knee injury to Ollie Norris. England will be licking their lips looking at the number of absentees as the showdown at the Allianz Stadium will expose just how deep the All Blacks’ front row depth really is.
Other setbacks
Ardie Savea is a huge miss for the All Blacks, as is Luke Jacobson, Caleb Clarke and Ruben Love. However, the staff has had more than enough time to plan for those setbacks that occurred during the tour of South Africa.
Leroy Carter and Shannon Frizell are the newest names added to the list, and they are two players who will have desperately wanted further opportunities before the end of the year. Carter bounced back from under-par performances in the latter stages of the series against the Springboks to shine in the clash against Australia at Eden Park, but a drop-tackle ended his international season.
As for Frizell, he suffered a non-contact knee injury shortly after coming off the bench in the second Test against the Wallabies. Back in 2023, the powerhouse forward was the All Blacks’ first-choice blindside flanker, but much has changed since then. He showed flashes of excellence in his first appearance back in Auckland, but he will know that he has a ton of work to do to reclaim that number six jersey.
Du’Plessis Kirifi
Despite the length of the unavailable back-rowers, Du’Plessis Kirifi has not been retained in the squad after earning his first cap of the year in Sydney.
It’s plainly obvious where the coaching team’s preferences lie, with Anton Segner’s more disciplined approach at the breakdown and post-contact work getting him the nod. Fainga’anuku’s return to fitness was always going to count against Kirifi, with the same being true for Ethan Blackadder, who impressed in South Africa and in Baltimore.
Kyren Taumoefolau
19 tries in 11 starts for Tasman in the NPC was not enough to convince the All Blacks selectors that Kyren Taumoefolau was ready for a Test call-up.
The 23-year-old try-scoring machine became eligible for the All Blacks in October after completing his three-year standown period from international rugby after representing Tonga at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
His performance for Tasman had many tipping him as a potential bolter for the end-of-year tour, but Rennie believes that there are still work-ons he needs to address before he gets the call.
“Look, he came up in discussions. Obviously, he scored a lot of tries and had a good Super season as well,” the head coach said.
“I think he’s got a few areas to focus on, especially defensively. And so his job will be to have a really big Super season next year, like a lot of other guys, to apply a bit of pressure, but we’ve got some pretty good outside backs at the moment.”
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Sam Darry and Patrick Tuipulotu
Two absentees, and not through injury, Sam Darry and Patrick Tuipulotu are the victims of the All Blacks’ depth at lock, with the return of Scott Barrett and the rise of Hannah further bottlenecking the selection.
Ultimately, it’s the two Blues second rowers who pay the price, Darry, despite impressing in the Tests against the Springboks. As mentioned above, New Zealand’s lineout has had its struggles throughout the year, and it will come under the spotlight in the UK, so perhaps that has factored into the selections, while Tuipulotu also doesn’t have the best injury record.