{"id":574800,"date":"2026-08-20T11:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/574800\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T11:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:50:15","slug":"all-blacks-dave-rennie-backs-damian-mckenzie-and-fabian-holland-for-springboks-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/574800\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks: Dave Rennie backs Damian McKenzie and Fabian Holland for Springboks test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jordan, captain Ardie Savea<\/a> and Cam Roigard<\/a> will make their first appearances of the South African tour<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Roigard (calf) and Jordan (back) didn\u2019t feature in the three previous tour matches<\/a> because of injury, while Savea savoured a two-week rest in New Zealand before rejoining the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The other notable talking point is Holland partnering Josh Lord in the second row.<\/p>\n

Holland missed the entire Super Rugby<\/a> season and the All Blacks\u2019 three Nations Championship victories in July<\/a> while recovering from shoulder surgery. <\/p>\n

In his return in South Africa, the Dutch-born lock<\/a> impressed with multiple lineout steals and his insatiable work-rate against the Stormers<\/a> and Bulls<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"DamianDamian McKenzie has recovered from injury to start at fullback for the All Blacks against the Springboks at Ellis Park. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Holland\u2019s presence points to the All Blacks attempting to pressure the South African lineout and challenge the Boks halfbacks by attempting charge downs while they repeatedly kick from the base.<\/p>\n

Patrick Tuipulotu and Lord were favoured to maintain their starting locking combination after a dominant performance in the All Blacks\u2019 last test win against Ireland at Eden Park<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Holland\u2019s return has altered those plans, though, as the Dutchman forced his way past Blues captain Tuipulotu for the first test. <\/p>\n

After selecting their first-choice front row, the All Blacks will be confident of matching the Boks\u2019 vaunted set piece strengths \u2013 but if there\u2019s a concern, it could be the potential lack of big, powerful ball carriers in their forward pack.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the starting team mirrors the one that humbled Ireland in mid-July.<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting halves pairing Roigard and Ruben Love<\/a> will confront the Boks in South Africa for the first time. <\/p>\n

Tupou Vaa\u2019i continues his switch from lock to blindside flanker alongside Luke Jacobson and Savea in the loose forward trio. <\/p>\n

\"AllAll Blacks coach Dave Rennie (centre) has put faith in Josh Moorby (from left), Ardie Savea, Josh Lord and Anton Segner. Photos \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Starting Vaa\u2019i, Holland and Lord allows the All Blacks to include two loose forwards, Peter Lakai and Anton Segner, on the bench. <\/p>\n

Back up halfback Kyle Preston and loosehead prop George Bower are included in the reserves after injuries to Cortez Ratima and Xavier Numia. Leroy Carter also edges out Fehi Fineanganofo as outside back cover.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all the build up and anticipation, our whole touring squad is excited to get this first test underway,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cWe have selected a balanced mix of big match, experienced players and younger players who have earned the right to play in this first test.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first three franchise games have exposed our newer players to the way South African teams play and have been fantastic in helping us build combinations and develop the game we want to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the test series will be a huge step up. We\u2019re well aware of what the Springboks will bring to the contest and the pressure that will come to bear. They are No 1 in the world, playing at their spiritual home in front of their passionate fans, so we will have to be at our very best on Saturday.\u201d <\/p>\n

All Blacks team: <\/p>\n

1. Ethan de Groot, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Tyrel Lomax, 4. Josh Lord, 5. Fabian Holland, 6. Tupou Vaa\u2019i, 7. Luke Jacobson, 8. Ardie Savea (c), 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Ruben Love, 11. Josh Moorby, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Quinn Tupaea, 14. Will Jordan, 15. Damian McKenzie<\/p>\n

Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua, 17. George Bower, 18. Fletcher Newell, 19. Anton Segner, 20. Peter Lakai, 21. Kyle Preston, 22. Anton Lienert-Brown, 23. Leroy Carter<\/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

Listen to Elliott Smith\u2019s live commentary on Newstalk ZB Sport and iHeartRadio, or join the Alternative Commentary Collective on iHeartRadio and Radio Hauraki.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jordan, captain Ardie Savea and Cam Roigard will make their first appearances of the South African tour. Roigard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5263,95,32319,8136,69827,9635,83414,2082,5809,61340,111,43,139,69,138234,8137,10809,765],"class_list":["post-574800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-all","tag-and","tag-backs","tag-blacks","tag-damian","tag-dave","tag-fabian","tag-for","tag-holland","tag-mckenzie","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rennie","tag-springboks","tag-sunday","tag-test"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574800","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=574800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}