Former All Blacks winger Jeff Wilson believes that Dave Rennie is testing out one positional selection with the sole purpose of deploying it against the Springboks.<\/p>\n
Following the three Nations Championship matches this July, Rennie and his squad will embark on a tour of South Africa where they will face each of the United Rugby Championship franchises as well as three Tests against the Boks<\/a> in the Republic, with a fourth taking place in Baltimore.<\/p>\n In his first two games as All Blacks<\/a> head coach, Rennie has fielded Ardie Savea in the number eight jersey, Luke Jacobson in the seven, with Peter Lakai completing the trio in the first game and Wallace Sititi in the second. Sititi came off the bench in the first Test while Anton Segner did so in the second.<\/p>\n Tupou Vaa\u2019i enters All Blacks\u2019 back-row discussion<\/p>\n However, there was an intriguing twist to the make-up of the back-row during the clash against the Azzurri as lock Tupou Vaa\u2019i switched to the loose trio in the latter stages of the match when Josh Lord replaced Savea.<\/p>\n After the match, Rennie said that the coaching staff weighed up selecting Vaa\u2019i at blindside flanker against the French the week before, but the Chiefs man was ruled out through injury for the clash.<\/p>\n Vaa\u2019i started in that position under both Ian Foster and Scott Robertson and is clearly an option for Rennie in the role, too, but Marshall has his reservations.<\/p>\n \u201cI can understand why they would want to put him there, absolutely. It gives you some real firepower in your lineout. No doubt about it, and he\u2019s a good athlete,\u201d he said on Sky Sport NZ\u2019s Breakdown show.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in my mind, he\u2019s so world-class at lock. He was the standout player and had been for the All Blacks for a couple of years. That\u2019s where his energy levels are really, really good and I think he understands the mindset of where he positionally needs to be on the field at lock.<\/p>\n \u201cLoosies now is such a different role. You\u2019ve got to distribute him much more, be able to play in the outside channels. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s in his DNA. Not that he can\u2019t adjust. So for me, I\u2019d leave him at lock.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have Wallace Sititi at number eight with Peter Lakai and Ardie Savea on the flanks. I know that\u2019s not giving us height in the lineout, but Wallace can be used as a lineout option.\u201d<\/p>\n All Blacks v Italy: Five takeaways as \u2018understated superstar\u2019 Will Jordan takes the limelight and \u2018signature of Dave Rennie era\u2019 already emerges<\/a><\/p>\n Specific ploy for the Springboks<\/p>\n Fellow former All Black Wilson is all for the ploy though as he believes it\u2019s being trialled for the purpose of the Test matches against the Springboks with Vaa\u2019i giving more size to the back-row. Furthermore, he hopes that Rennie will explore a 6-2 bench split, in favour of the forwards, at some point.<\/p>\n Foster deployed that tactic once, against the Springboks at Twickenham before the 2023 Rugby World Cup, while Robertson resisted the urge during his tenure.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0think it\u2019s just a specific tactic to take on South Africa and I like it,\u201d Wilson said of selecting Vaa\u2019i at flanker<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMore size, for me it\u2019s a straight-out bigger body. Now there\u2019s areas of the game where, like you say, all of a sudden you lose something that a Peter Lakai has or Wallace Sititi or Luke Jacobson, and there\u2019ll be some very, very good players who miss out. It does also change the makeup of how we look at our bench.<\/p>\n Nations Championship Team of Week: Finn Russell\u2019s \u2018finest\u2019 Test match of his career and history made for Henry Pollock and \u2018easiest\u2019 selection<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also got to explore the 6-2 bench at some point as well. But for me, I like the idea. I want to see it. He got a taste of it, and we saw some really nice signs. So I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we see it.\u201d<\/p>\n