{"id":602418,"date":"2026-05-25T04:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/602418\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T04:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:14:11","slug":"shane-howarths-ruben-love-plea-to-all-blacks-boss-dave-rennie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/602418\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane Howarth’s Ruben Love plea to All Blacks boss Dave Rennie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Former All Blacks full-back Shane Howarth has called on Dave Rennie to be bolder than his predecessors and pick a younger player at fly-half.<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old would like to see Hurricanes star Ruben Love given a go in the number 10 jersey after a stunning season in Super Rugby Pacific.<\/p>\n

Should that happen, he would be the first player not named Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie or Richie Mo\u2019unga to start a Test for the All Blacks<\/a> since Lima Sopoaga in 2017.<\/p>\n

That means Ian Foster (2019-2023) and Scott Robertson (2023-2026) relied on those players throughout their tenures, with Mo\u2019unga only not featuring for New Zealand under the latter due to his stint in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u2018Banging the drum\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been banging the drum for a while about where are the apprentices? Where are the young boys coming up? Beauden\u2019s going to be 36 at the World Cup,\u201d Howarth told The Rugby Run on Sport Nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really sits on Ian Foster and Scott Robertson<\/a> that they haven\u2019t brought anyone through. This can\u2019t sit with Dave Rennie, he\u2019s got to do what\u2019s in front of him, but I could name three youngsters I would have tried: [Rivez] Reihana, [Josh] Jacomb and Love.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy haven\u2019t they been tried? That\u2019s the thing you\u2019ve got to look at because then it\u2019s a matter of, \u2018oh well, Damian and Beauden have got Test experience, so they have to play regardless of form\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sits with poor old Dave Rennie<\/a> now and I really hope that Rens goes, \u2018do you know what, Ruben Love, you have this first game\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019unga will be eligible later in the year after re-signing with New Zealand Rugby but there is currently a question mark about the fly-half position.<\/p>\n

McKenzie has impressed for the Chiefs but Barrett is currently struggling in a Blues side that have not found their attacking rhythm in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to coach the All Blacks I understand the pressure and the feeling that you have to win, but I think the New Zealand public would be a lot lighter on you if you are trying players to see if they can actually play at that level.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know until they play. Everyone goes, \u2018Ruben Love, he could possibly be good at Test match level or Josh Jacomb could be good in a Test match\u2019. Well, you don\u2019t know until they play and that\u2019s where I think the New Zealand public now would be a lot easier if you tried someone in a Test.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if they didn\u2019t win the Test, at least they\u2019ve got experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

All Blacks great: How the Richie Mo\u2019unga situation could impact \u2018under pressure\u2019 Beauden Barrett who \u2018needs\u2019 to rediscover form<\/a><\/p>\n

Fly-half the big All Blacks concern<\/p>\n

Howarth was then asked separately what the big area of concern for the All Blacks was and he retuned to the fly-half conundrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 10 isn\u2019t it, that\u2019s the crux, and I really, really hope Dave Rennie goes, \u2018you know what, Ruben Love, first Test match, it\u2019s yours\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you [if he\u2019s good enough], that\u2019s the roundabout. You\u2019ve got to put him in to see because it\u2019s another level going up to All Blacks level from Super Rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see, \u2018here you go Ruben, here\u2019s the first Test, you\u2019ve got the 10 jersey, show us what you can do\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it would be a brave call for Rennie to pick Love over Barrett and McKenzie, it would also make sense from a combination standpoint given that the players either side of the fly-half are likely to be from the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the nail on the head, he\u2019s comfortable, he knows Cam Roigard and he knows Jordie [Barrett], and they know him, so I really, really hope Ruben Love runs out at 10 in the first Test,\u201d Howarth added.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Chiefs player ratings: Wallace Sititi \u2018doing everything right\u2019 but late \u2018disasterclass\u2019 in Damian McKenzie\u2019s absence proves costly<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former All Blacks full-back Shane Howarth has called on Dave Rennie to be bolder than his predecessors and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[348,7079,3482,620,50,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-602418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-home-page","tag-hurricanes","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}