{"id":575071,"date":"2026-08-20T17:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/575071\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T17:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:54:10","slug":"all-blacks-team-winners-and-losers-as-incredible-servant-dropped-while-real-deal-set-to-play-biggest-game-of-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/575071\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks team: Winners and losers as ‘incredible servant’ dropped while ‘real deal’ set to play ‘biggest game of his career’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Rennie has announced a stacked All Blacks team to take on the Springboks<\/a> on Saturday for the opening match of Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry.<\/p>\n

Here are our winners and losers from the 23-man squad.<\/p>\n

Winners<\/p>\n

Josh Moorby: The 28-year-old is finally getting his crack at the All Blacks<\/a> after years of impressive performances in the National Provincial Championship, Super Rugby and the Top 14. After making his international debut off the bench against Italy in July, he started against Ireland the following week, then appeared at full-back against the Stormers in August before scoring two tries and excelling against the Bulls. Now, he\u2019s been selected on the left wing ahead of former sevens star Leroy Carter in what will be a huge opportunity for the elusive back-three player.<\/p>\n

Damian McKenzie: It was touch-and-go for the world-class full-back who sprained his ankle in Durban against the Sharks. Despite Rennie being \u201cless confident\u201d on McKenzie\u2019s chances of being fit for the opening game against the Springboks, he now appears to have full trust in the full-back\u2019s ankle. With\u00a0Beauden Barrett<\/a> not in the squad, McKenzie is the obvious option to replace Ruben Love at 10 during the game if required.<\/p>\n

Ruben Love: Talking of whom; the 25-year-old has increasingly indicated that he is the real deal. His journey to the international circuit hasn\u2019t been straightforward, and positional changes have played a major part in that, but now at fly-half he appears perfectly settled. In only his first full season playing in the 10 shirt, he\u2019s guided the Hurricanes<\/a> to Super Rugby glory, started all three All Black Tests in the Nations Championship, and is now set to compete in the biggest game of his career.<\/p>\n

Fabian Holland: He may have missed the entire 2025\/26 season through injury, but his return has been nothing short of majestic. After winning three consecutive matches against France the previous season, he appeared straight back into the All Blacks team with three more victories over Ireland<\/a>, Scotland and Wales respectively. His form in the Greatest Rivalry warm-ups would continue to defy all expectations, and he is deserving of this Test-match start.<\/p>\n

Anton Segner: The German-born loose forward made just two substitute appearances for the All Blacks prior to this tour, and after impressing in the warm-ups, he will get his opportunity to play against the world champions from the bench. He\u2019s been excellent for the Blues again this past season, so he will hope to emulate his club form on the biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Kyle Preston: The Crusaders scrum-half had made just one All Blacks appearance ahead of this tour \u2013 a 16-minute cameo against the Springboks in 2025. After impressing against the Sharks in his first-ever start for the side, he\u2019s now been selected as the bench option to face the Springboks again. He knows what it takes to perform off the bench, notably coming on as a replacement in all of the Crusaders\u2019 matches in the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n

All Blacks team: Star trio recover from injury to face Springboks as Dave Rennie makes big call up front<\/a><\/p>\n

Losers<\/p>\n

Beauden Barrett: The 147-capped player has been dropped from the matchday 23. Despite still showing signs of the elite pace which made him such a dangerous player to play against in his younger years, the 35-year-old has struggled with his decision-making and form in recent times. He\u2019s been an incredible servant of the jersey since first making his debut in 2012, but his exclusion could be a very real indication of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

Injured trio: Cortez Ratima has not made the cut after suffering a posterior cruciate ligament knee injury in the All Blacks\u2019 50-19 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria. There were doubts whether he would be able to return in time, but Preston\u2019s availability has made Rennie\u2019s decision to exclude Ratima a little easier. Xavier Numia is also excluded from the squad after suffering a sore Achilles in the same match, while Caleb Clarke returned home after scans revealed he ruptured a tendon in his shoulder during last week\u2019s game against the Sharks.<\/p>\n

Rieko Ioane: Once one of New Zealand\u2019s most exciting stars, he\u2019s now unable to make the Test match 23. Dropped completely from the opening match, he will watch on as Quinn Tupaea performs in his former position of outside centre, and Will Jordan and Moorby take up the wings. If he\u2019s not able to make a significant mark on this tour, heading into next year\u2019s World Cup, he could well find himself completely out of the All Blacks fold.<\/p>\n

Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho: He is the only change in the starting pack from the All Blacks\u2019 win over Ireland in July. He failed to set the scrum alight in the warm-up games, and as a result, against the greatest scrum in the world, he will watch on as the in-form Asafo Aumua takes the bench spot. He is highly experienced, however, so he will know to bide his time, and he\u2019ll surely receive a Test opportunity later on in the tour.<\/p>\n

Fehi Fineanganofo: Despite his incredible club form and impressive performances in the All Black jersey, particularly against the Sharks, he\u2019s not included in the matchday squad. While it\u2019s true that New Zealand have a plethora of options on the wing, he must have been banging on the door of the 23. His try-scoring record at club level cannot be sniffed at too, so expect Rennie to look his way if the selected crop don\u2019t perform this week.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0All Blacks: Where Test series triumph over Springboks in South Africa ranks for Sean Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie has announced a stacked All Blacks team to take on the Springboks on Saturday for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[337,42,1463,1464,111,43,6327,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-575071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-features","tag-headlines","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575071","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=575071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}