{"id":521365,"date":"2026-07-11T20:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T20:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/521365\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T20:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T20:18:15","slug":"all-blacks-v-italy-dave-rennie-leads-tributes-after-will-jordan-sets-try-scoring-record-but-says-side-need-to-improve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/521365\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks v Italy: Dave Rennie leads tributes after Will Jordan sets try scoring record but says side need to improve"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s my seventh year in the team now so I\u2019m proud to have an impact<\/a> but also grateful to be on the end of the chain of some great teams and players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThinking about it as a kid in the backyard doing the chip and chase loving the game, it\u2019s cool to be here now and I hope I\u2019ve inspired a few kids to dream big and try and do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 12 months,<\/a> the record has come a bit more into focus. It\u2019s not something I was looking to chase. I wanted to have a long career in the All Blacks jersey and it\u2019s come through that. This year I had five to get there and it\u2019s certainly surprised me how quickly I\u2019ve got there. That\u2019s the way we\u2019re trying to play, to use the ball, and be positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WillWill Jordan scored a hat-trick against Italy. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Jordan surpassed All Blacks greats Christian Cullen, Jonah Lomu, Joe Rokocoko and Jeff Wilson before eclipsing Howlett\u2019s 49 test tries. He singled out his try in the defeat to Ireland in Wellington in 2022 \u2013 and another against the same opposition in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final \u2013 as his fondest. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the bit that humbles me the most. They\u2019re the who\u2019s who of the All Blacks back three. Watching them when I was younger or seeing highlights of the older guys, it\u2019s crazy. I don\u2019t see myself in that realm yet but it\u2019s special to be amongst those names.<\/p>\n

These days, Jordan isn\u2019t worried whether he features at fullback or on the edge for the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve matured a little bit in that sense \u2013 14 or 15, I feel like I\u2019m capable of playing both to a world-class level and whatever role the team needs, that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do. As a winger, you get a few more tries so it\u2019s been cool to do that over the last couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

If claiming the try scoring record wasn\u2019t enough, Jordan assumed the All Blacks captaincy for the final 15 minutes after Ardie Savea departed, and with Codie Taylor and Jordie Barrett already replaced.<\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks Jordie Barrett and Will Jordan celebrate a try. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been nice to be a wee bit more clinical. It felt like when we did the simple things well we hurt them. There was some really good rugby for 20 or 30 minutes but we need to do it for longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dave Rennie led the tributes to Jordan, while acknowledging the All Blacks must be much better than delivering one clinical quarter with accuracy, breakdown work, ball carrying punch, attacking variety and ruthlessness all needing to improve after a patchy performance against Italy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve only been here for 10% of his tries,\u201d Rennie said. \u201dI\u2019ve seen some from the opposition coaching box. He\u2019s got unbelievable anticipation and genuine gas to get himself into position to take passes off linebreaks. He\u2019s smart, understands the game really well. I\u2019ve been really impressed with him. He\u2019s leading our counterattack and he\u2019s having a massive impact in that area. Fifty in 56 tests is phenomenal. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pass mark tonight but we\u2019ll need to be better next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Savea followed Rennie to praise Jordan\u2019s record-breaking evening in the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial players do special things,\u201d Savea said. \u201cEvery time Will puts on the black jersey he\u2019s outstanding. Tonight he was again, breaking records. I\u2019m more impressed with the impact he has on our group and his leadership, his rugby IQ and setting up our team. Tonight is a bonus that he dotted down three times.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also a notable night for German-born loose forward Anton Segner and Hurricanes outside back Josh Moorby after they enjoyed extended test debuts.<\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks loose forward Anton Segner made his test debut against Italy. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Segner\u2019s first All Blacks appearance capped his journey from Europe to Nelson College as a teenager to chase his rugby dream. His parents, brothers and Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku, his college roommate, were among the sold out crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe words that describe it the best are a dream come true,\u201d Segner said. \u201cBack in Germany when I was nine years old, it was a distant dream, if a dream at all. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch the All Blacks play the 2011 World Cup, watching them do that haka. Being able to experience that firsthand today was special. There\u2019s a lot of emotion. It\u2019s a very special time for me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moorby replaced Leroy Carter, after he suffered an AC shoulder injury, late in the first half and was among the All Blacks\u2019 best to celebrate his 28th birthday in style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a helluva birthday present,\u201d Moorby said. \u201cIt\u2019s a dream come true. I\u2019m incredibly proud and hugely grateful to all the people who have been part of my journey. Coming home, there was that desire in my gut to make use of this chance. I\u2019m lucky the Hurricanes allowed me to play a great brand of rugby.\u201d<\/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":"\u201cIt\u2019s my seventh year in the team now so I\u2019m proud to have an impact but also grateful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,9092,5263,82007,8136,3013,10712,9635,251115,180826,95276,15221,1224,16802,22055,13617,5971,111,139,69,240063,1974,138234,312,65831,1973,6102,213,61,10140,46599,1533],"class_list":["post-521365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-against","tag-all","tag-alltime","tag-blacks","tag-but","tag-claiming","tag-dave","tag-etched","tag-flowed","tag-folklore","tag-improve","tag-italy","tag-jordan","tag-leads","tag-name","tag-need","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-patchy","tag-record","tag-rennie","tag-says","tag-scoring","tag-sets","tag-side","tag-sports","tag-to","tag-tributes","tag-try","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521365","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=521365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}