But as murmurs grow that Fineanganofo may, indeed, stay in New Zealand rugby, the prospect of him donning a black jersey is imminent which could alter the complexion of his playing future. <\/p>\n
As it stands, Fineanganofo is available for the All Blacks until the end of this year. A rapid contractual resolution is not likely but, regardless, Rennie is expected to include him in his first 34-man All Blacks squad that could feature up to five rookies. <\/p>\n
The outside backs are, as usual, heavily congested. Hurricanes wing Josh Moorby is pushing hard for his rookie inclusion after a consistent eye-catching return from France. <\/p>\n
Fineanganofo, though, appears to be an unmatched game breaking talent \u2013 and including him in the All Blacks could help retain his presence in New Zealand beyond this year.<\/p>\n
Will Jordan\u2019s six-week injury setback could allow Rennie some flexibility with his outside backs. Jordan is expected to miss the opening test against France in Christchurch and Italy in Wellington the following week but recover in time for Ireland at Eden Park, which could see Rennie name a replacement before he returns. <\/p>\n
With the South African tour on the horizon, there\u2019s no point rushing Jordan back from a recurring calf injury. The Crusaders discovered that the hard way after pushing Jordan too deep in his return match, only to lose him for the remainder of their campaign. <\/p>\n
Caleb Clarke and Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, the latter with his hybrid appeal, are certainties. Leroy Carter\u2019s timely return from injury could aid his case but if Rennie is true to his word to select on form, Moorby will go close after Caleb Tangitau\u2019s season-ending injury and with Chiefs fullback Isaac Hutchinson ruled out for two months. <\/p>\n
The unknown, at this stage, is how Rennie plans to transition Rieko Ioane, Ardie Savea and Anton Lienert-Brown back from their respective offshore stints. <\/p>\n
Typically, long-serving players who take sabbaticals abroad while remaining committed to NZ rugby immediately return to the All Blacks. <\/p>\n
Ioane will play his last game for Leinster, where he has predominantly featured on the wing, in their URC final against the Bulls this weekend, while Savea and Lienert-Brown finished their Japanese stints under Rennie by capturing the League One title with Kobe two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
The midfield largely selects itself, with Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea the expected starting combination and Billy Proctor deserving of another crack at test level in a new regime. <\/p>\n
Lienert-Brown may have done enough to impress Rennie in Japan but the coach\u2019s penchant for powerful ball-carrying second five-eighths enhances Timoci Tavatavanawai\u2019s cause.<\/p>\n
Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett \u2013 all of whom can switch to fullback \u2013 are expected to be included for July before Richie Mo\u2019unga\u2019s return from Japan forces a squeeze in the playmaking ranks.<\/p>\n
Barrett\u2019s form amid the Blues\u2019 tailspinning season that finished with five straight defeats has been heavily scrutinised. It would, however, be a major surprise if Rennie does not include the centurion and back him to regain his spark with the All Blacks. <\/p>\n
The true playmaking squeeze won\u2019t arrive for Rennie until Love is assessed on the test scene and Mo\u2019unga returns to the All Blacks after first playing provincial rugby to tick NZ Rugby\u2019s eligibility box. <\/p>\n
Cam Roigard is one of the world\u2019s premier players but his halfback deputies are uncertain with Noah Hotham\u2019s speed to the base believed to be in question. Kyle Preston\u2019s notable impact off the bench for the Crusaders promotes his case and despite and up and down season, Cortez Ratima could retain his place. <\/p>\n
Wallace Sititi\u2019s fitness status after the deeply concerning double head knock in the Chiefs\u2019 quarterfinal victory will determine the make-up of the loose forwards. <\/p>\n
Sititi missed the Chiefs\u2019 crushing semifinal win against the Crusaders and was not considered for the final due to concussion. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also unclear whether Savea will feature in all or some of the July tests or savour a rest to preserve his presence for the looming South African tour in August. <\/p>\n
In an ideal world, though, if Savea is to assume the captaincy from Scott Barrett, he will lead the All Blacks from the first whistle. <\/p>\n
Peter Lakai is guaranteed selection after another superb season for the Hurricanes. Outside Lakai, Sititi and Savea, Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi, Anton Segner, Luke Jacobson, Simon Parker, Christian Lio-Willie and Lucas Casey are all vying for inclusion. <\/p>\n
The battle between Jacobson, Segner, Parker and Kirifi is fierce with two of that quartet likely making the cut. Segner\u2019s compelling form this season could leave Kirifi vulnerable. <\/p>\n
Locking stocks will be tested \u2013 and a new captain required \u2013 with Scott Barrett sidelined after back surgery, possibly for the remainder of the year, and Fabian Holland not due back until the South African tour. <\/p>\n
Tupou Vaa\u2019i, Josh Lord and Patrick Tuipulotu are expected to be included, with Sam Darry and Crusaders lock Jamie Hannah likely contesting the final spot.<\/p>\n
Asafo Aumua\u2019s destructive ball carrying will propel his presence back into the All Blacks alongside Codie Taylor and Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho. <\/p>\n
And while Fletcher Newell, Tyrel Lomax and Pasilio Tosi ensure the tighthead propping stocks are stacked, Tamaiti Williams\u2019 injury absence paves the way for at least one rookie loosehead to join Ethan de Groot. <\/p>\n
Xavier Numia must be the frontrunner after a standout season with the Hurricanes, and Chiefs prop Ollie Norris could also edge out George Bower. <\/p>\n
Possible All Blacks squad: <\/p>\n
Props: Fletcher Newell, Tyrel Lomax, Pasilio Tosi, Ethan de Groot, Xavier Numia, Ollie Norris<\/p>\n
Hookers: Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho, Asafo Aumua<\/p>\n
Locks: Tupou Vaa\u2019i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry<\/p>\n
Loose forwards: Peter Lakai, Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi, Simon Parker, Anton Segner, Luke Jacobson <\/p>\n
Halfbacks: Cam Roigard, Kyle Preston, Cortez Ratima <\/p>\n
First fives: Ruben Love, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie<\/p>\n
Midfield: Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown\/Timoci Tavatavanawai <\/p>\n
Outside backs: Caleb Clarke, Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, Fehi Fineanganofo, Josh Moorby (injury cover for Will Jordan), Rieko Ioane<\/p>\n
Liam Napier<\/a> is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But as murmurs grow that Fineanganofo may, indeed, stay in New Zealand rugby, the prospect of him donning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5263,8136,22385,13381,124,9635,1888,2082,42,242854,111,139,69,1118,183683,17891,155272,6926,17879,213,13172,1557,2737,36096,223,23368,1533],"class_list":["post-483649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all","tag-blacks","tag-breakout","tag-captain","tag-could","tag-dave","tag-first","tag-for","tag-headlines","tag-inclusions","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-rennies","tag-rookie","tag-rookies","tag-season","tag-selection","tag-sports","tag-spotlight","tag-squad","tag-star","tag-steal","tag-the","tag-tipped","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}