{"id":643869,"date":"2026-10-28T15:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/643869\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T15:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:04:11","slug":"dave-rennies-definite-verdict-on-leicester-faingaanukus-position-as-all-blacks-boss-makes-south-africa-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/643869\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie’s ‘definite’ verdict on Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku’s position as All Blacks boss makes South Africa admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Rennie is pleased to have Leicester<\/a> Fainga\u2019anuku available as he provides the All Blacks with genuine flexibility with his ability to play in the backline and forwards.<\/p>\n

Fainga\u2019anuku returned to New Zealand earlier this year after a stint in France with Top 14 club RC Toulon, where he started to become a hybrid player.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old started out as a winger\/centre during his first stint in New Zealand but would end matches in the loose forwards after starting in the backline for the famous French side.<\/p>\n

His development as a hybrid player continued under Rob Penney this year, starting his stint as a back before switching to the openside flanker position in round 11 and featuring there until the semi-final defeat to the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Dave Rennie on Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku<\/p>\n

He broke his leg in that defeat and subsequently missed out on selection for the July Nations Championship matches and Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour.<\/p>\n

Having marked his return in the NPC with Tasman, Fainga\u2019anuku has now been added to the All Blacks squad, named among the loose forwards, but Rennie has confirmed that he won\u2019t be playing exclusively in the back-row.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve named five locks, six loosies, but if you consider Tupou Vaa\u2019i can play loose and then Leicester can play midfield and wing and that sort of thing. We have got a lot of flexibility there, and we are excited to get Leicester in; it\u2019s been a frustrating last few months for him,\u201d Rennie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously (he) came back from injury and then got a concussion with Tasman. He has been running really well over the last sort of couple of weeks, and it\u2019d be great to have him, and he gives us genuine flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks squad: Winners and losers as Dave Rennie snubs try-scoring machine but finally gets to trial \u2018Springboks ploy\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressed on where he could feature, Rennie said: \u201cDefinitely a hybrid. He has played a lot of wing for the All Blacks. He\u2019s very comfortable at 12, and he has played a fair bit of seven this year. So, he can genuinely fill a number of spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

One drawback about selecting Fainga\u2019anuku is his lack of game time, as he has played just two halves of rugby for Tasman recently, which isn\u2019t ideal with the NPC now concluded.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s limited; it is less than we would have liked,\u201d the head coach said about the utility star\u2019s game time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I still think it\u2019s better to have him in the group for the next four or five weeks \u2013 he\u2019s in reasonable nick now. Whether he\u2019s game-ready is the test. He\u2019ll definitely feature on tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks squad: Five takeaways as injury crisis puts depth in the \u2018spotlight\u2019 while Dave Rennie makes \u2018game-changing\u2019 selection<\/a><\/p>\n

South Africa admission<\/p>\n

Rennie added that he is a player that the All Blacks wanted to have involved earlier in the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have been keen for Leicester to go to South Africa,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not just throwing someone in; he has shown at super level that he can do the job really well. The challenge for him is often getting your head around all the detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe seven is not quite as challenging because of the lineout options and other things are simpler, but he gives you massive flexibility. You can name a 5-3 three bench, but it\u2019s genuinely a 6-2, and he can definitely make an impact in all of those spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0Sir Steve Hansen\u2019s ominous \u2018watch this space\u2019 warning to \u2018passionate\u2019 Springboks fans who have \u2018short memories\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Rennie is pleased to have Leicester Fainga\u2019anuku available as he provides the All Blacks with genuine flexibility…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[169306,1463,1464,207163,254352,111,43,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-643869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dave-rennie","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-leicester-fainga","tag-nations-championship","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643869","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=643869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}