{"id":489706,"date":"2026-06-22T10:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489706\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T10:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:26:12","slug":"dave-rennies-first-all-blacks-squad-loaded-with-attacking-firepower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489706\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie\u2019s first All Blacks squad loaded with attacking firepower"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey\u2019ve all had outstanding seasons,\u201d Rennie said of his new caps at the announcement at the Feilding Yellows club. \u201cAnton was the best Blues player. He\u2019s been solid everywhere. He\u2019s an excellent lineout forward and quality on the carry. He\u2019s created a lot of turnovers post-tackle. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at pure numbers Anton has been incredible. His post-tackle numbers are in the 90s. He\u2019s made really good decisions and he\u2019s been really effective. Du\u2019Plessis was unbelievable this time last year. Probably not as good numbers this year but he\u2019s a really good player. He\u2019s a good athlete, he\u2019s got great work ethic. They\u2019re discussions we had but Anton\u2019s form has been irresistible.<\/p>\n

\u201cFehi and Josh, they\u2019ve both been outstanding out wide. They\u2019ve finished well but they\u2019ve got massive work ethic, the ability to beat people and create for others. <\/p>\n

\u201cXavier, you don\u2019t see too many looseheads like him. He\u2019s been a big part of the go-forward for the Hurricanes and the ability to create quick ball. He\u2019s scrummaged well and got a lot better in the last few years. It\u2019s a great day for those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rieko Ioane\u2019s absence is the headline omission. <\/p>\n

The 88-test veteran is the first player to be left out of the All Blacks after opting to take an overseas sabbatical. Once he returns from Irish club Leinster, Ioane will represent Auckland in the NPC and attempt to work his way back into the All Blacks. <\/p>\n

Starting Crusaders halfback Noah Hotham and Highlanders midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai are other notable absences.<\/p>\n

\u201cRieko\u2019s omission is more to do with the quality of what the players have done here,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cHe was close, he was constantly in discussion. His form of late has been really good at Leinster. He\u2019s played a bit of centre, a bit of wing, over there but in the end we felt there were other guys going better here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn South Africa, we\u2019ll take 44 so having players that are versatile will be important because you play multiple games a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoah is unlucky. We\u2019ve got four or five really good halfbacks. Kyle [Preston] coming in \u2013 his speed to the breakdown and quality of distribution was key for us. We want to play at a really high tempo so he got the nod.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fineanganofo, at this stage, remains signed to join Newcastle at the end of the year but, after breaking into the All Blacks<\/a>, he could well attempt to extricate himself from that two-year contract. <\/p>\n

\"FehiFehi Fineanganofo of the Hurricanes celebrates a try during the Super Rugby Pacific Final. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s available until November. We made a decision to pick him and that\u2019s on form,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cI\u2019ll let others work through that process. We\u2019ve got a test against France and we want the best players available. Fehi is one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Segner started playing rugby in Germany as a 10-year-old when the 2011 World Cup was held in New Zealand. He witnessed the haka and rose in the early hours to watch the All Blacks which inspired him to move to Nelson as a teenager to pursue his rugby dream. <\/p>\n

He informed his family of his All Blacks call-up at 4am in Germany and they watched the announcement at 1am the following day. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be a part of this team now words can\u2019t do it justice,\u201d Segner said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very special time for myself and my loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moorby, who returned from France this year to star for the Hurricanes on the edge, didn\u2019t tell his family of his inclusion, leaving them to find out through the live announcement and him to confess to telling white lies about his movements on Monday. <\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Moorby has been in try-scoring form for the Hurricanes. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Numia spoke with emotion about the pride he holds in carrying his grandfather\u2019s name to the world stage. <\/p>\n

Auckland-raised Fineanganofo, despite signing with Newcastle at the start of the year, long had visions of following his schoolmates. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Grammar boy, I saw all the All Blacks that used to go there so this has always been my dream ever since going there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his future beyond this year, Fineanganofo said: \u201cI\u2019ll leave that to my agent. I trust he\u2019s going to do what\u2019s best for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks selector Graham Henry and captian Ardie Savea during the team naming at the Fielding Yellows Rugby Club. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

While Savea assumes the permanent captaincy from the injured Scott Barrett as widely expected, he may miss some tests this season after effectively playing 18 months straight. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a whole Super season last year, a full international and then came to us at Kobe so he didn\u2019t get much of a break,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cHe\u2019s available for this first series. We might need to manage him at some stage this year just to make sure he\u2019s going well at the end of it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith Ardie in his Pasifika way, he tried to bat off the captaincy and say \u2018Whatever you decide I\u2019ll support. If you want to go with someone else I\u2019ll get behind them.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Ardie is not a massive talker but he\u2019ll lead through actions. Having him as captain there\u2019s massive respect. He\u2019s very experienced. We think it\u2019s best for the team and he\u2019ll only get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captaining the All Blacks is nothing new for Savea but, alongside Rennie, this is now his team to lead, unite and inspire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest difference is the pressure and responsibility,\u201d Savea said. \u201cYou\u2019re not only representing the guys in the team but a whole nation and every single Kiwi around the world. That can either burden you or you can walk towards it and embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Fabian Holland, Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, Tamaiti Williams and Scott Barrett to return from injury at some stage – the latter two no guarantee this year – Rennie has further depth at his disposal.<\/p>\n

For now, though, Rennie\u2019s next task is ensuring his new era starts with victory against France in Christchurch in two weeks.<\/p>\n

With his first squad locked in, the real work begins.<\/p>\n

All Blacks squad<\/p>\n

FORWARDS:<\/p>\n

Hookers: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho<\/p>\n

Props: Ethan de Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia*, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi<\/p>\n

Locks: Tupou Vaa\u2019i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry<\/p>\n

Loose forwards: Peter Lakai, Simon Parker, Ardie Savea (captain), Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Anton Segner*<\/p>\n

BACKS:<\/p>\n

Halfbacks: Cam Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Kyle Preston<\/p>\n

First five-eighths: Ruben Love, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie<\/p>\n

Midfielders: Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown<\/p>\n

Outside backs: Caleb Clarke, Fehi Fineanganofo*, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby*, Will Jordan<\/p>\n

*denotes new cap<\/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":"\u201cThey\u2019ve all had outstanding seasons,\u201d Rennie said of his new caps at the announcement at the Feilding Yellows…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5263,9082,155261,8136,9635,245571,1888,16555,25491,36424,22176,111,139,69,138234,183683,245572,92144,213,1557,105085,6749,28066,102,27630],"class_list":["post-489706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all","tag-ardie","tag-attacking","tag-blacks","tag-dave","tag-firepower","tag-first","tag-form","tag-intent","tag-largely","tag-loaded","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rennie","tag-rennies","tag-savealed","tag-select","tag-sports","tag-squad","tag-stacked","tag-stayed","tag-true","tag-with","tag-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489706","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=489706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}