It is clear too that the All Blacks want to make the most of the dry ball and run the French around; the backline is packed with speed and agility, and likewise the pack has been selected with what appears to be a similar mindset.<\/p>\n
Love, who will be playing his sixth Test, will have familiarity inside him, with Hurricanes pair Cam Roigard starting at halfback and second-five Jordie Barrett wearing the No.12 jersey.<\/p>\n
While Love’s selection was relatively predictable, Rennie has made several surprises.<\/p>\n
One is his choice at openside flanker, with Luke Jacobson wearing the No.7 jersey, skipper Ardie Savea at No.8 and Peter Lakai on the blindside.<\/p>\n
![\"All](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/all-blacks-captain-ardie-savea-trains-with-the-team-J6UPYHGQTJGENJHGC3QPC25KVY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
All Blacks captain Ardie Savea trains with the team. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n
Will Jordan starts on the right wing, with Caleb Clarke on the left.<\/p>\n
The midfield, another contentious area, has Quinn Tupaea starting at centre, with Jordie Barrett at second-five.<\/p>\n
Uncapped Hurricanes pair, prop Xavier Numia and wing Fehi Fineanganofo, have been named on the bench.<\/p>\n
The starting front row features Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor and Fletcher Newell, with Asafo Aumua, Tyrel Lomax and Numia on the bench.<\/p>\n
Josh Lord and Sam Darry are the locking pair, with Tupou Vaa’i ruled out with concussion. Patrick Tuipulotu is the back-up lock.<\/p>\n
Despite Roigard’s ability to consistently play 80 minutes, Rennie has resisted the temptation to go for a six-two forwards-backs split on the bench, with Cortez Ratima the back-up halfback.<\/p>\n
Rennie said the 23 was reflective of Super Rugby form, as well as crucial Test match experience. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no doubt players have forced our hand as selectors through quality Super Rugby performances,” he said. “We have selected an exciting blend of experience and youth, with a powerful bench that will add impact. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we will be facing a formidable French side with a strong set piece, kicking game and ability to keep the ball alive, so we will need to be physical, accurate and alert. We\u2019ve worked hard and connected well over the past nine days. That clarity will give us the opportunity to express ourselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an honour to play the first Test match at the new Christchurch stadium and to bring the All Blacks back to this proud rugby region. What a way to start our season, playing under the roof in front of a sold-out stadium.\u201d <\/p>\n
It is four years since the All Blacks played in Christchurch and 13 years since the French played in the city.<\/p>\n
All Blacks match-day squad to play France<\/p>\n
(Test caps in brackets; * denotes debutant) <\/p>\n
1.\u202f\u202fEthan de Groot (40), 2. Codie Taylor (106), 3.\u202f\u202fFletcher Newell (35), 4.\u202f\u202fJosh Lord (12), 5. Sam Darry (8), 6.\u202f\u202fPeter Lakai (8), 7.\u202f\u202fLuke Jacobson (24), 8.\u202f\u202fArdie Savea (106) (Captain), 9.\u202f\u202fCam Roigard (17), 10.\u202fRuben Love (5), 11.\u202fCaleb Clarke (33), 12. Jordie Barrett (78), 13.\u202fQuinn Tupaea (24), 14.\u202fWill Jordan (54), 15.\u202fDamian McKenzie (74). Reserves: 16.\u202fAsafo Aumua (20), 17.\u202fXavier Numia * , 18. Tyrel Lomax (48) , 19.\u202fPatrick Tuipulotu (56), 20.\u202fWallace Sititi (19), 21.\u202fCortez Ratima (21), 22.\u202fBilly Proctor (11), 23.\u202fFehi Fineanganofo * .<\/p>\n
Unavailable due to injury: Tupou Vaa\u2019i (concussion) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruben Love’s sparkling Super Rugby form has been rewarded \u2013 he has been given the honour of leading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[789,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-505995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-all-blacks","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505995","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=505995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}