Dave Rennie and Ardie Savea team up in Japan, and now with the All Blacks
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
New All Blacks coach Dave Rennie says he’s not going to play favourites with his player selection for the black jersey.
Speaking just hours after he was announced as head coach, and only the day after he interviewed for the role, Rennie said “I don’t have any player loyalties, and we’re going to select on form.”
“Players are going to have to earn the right to wear the jersey,” he said in Auckland.
The comments came after an unsettled period for NZ Rugby, filled with speculation about just what brought about Scott Robertson’s abrupt demise from the top job.
Talk at the time of his exit in January pointed to player dissatisfaction with the coach, following the post-season review after the 2025 season.
Among those players who did not appear on board with the Robertson leadership was vice-captain Ardie Savea, who was reportedly so unhappy that he was contemplating leaving New Zealand to play in Ireland and Japan, suggesting the All Blacks were in crisis.
The rumours were denied by NZ Rugby, with chairperson David Kirk saying Savea didn't spearhead a contingent of players to overthrow the coach.
“It's a real red herring to think of Ardie as somehow being influential in this decision,” Kirk said. “He absolutely was not.”
Any discomfort for the star flanker and No 8 at the All Blacks was unlikely to carry over under new management though, with Savea a part of new coach Rennie’s Kobelco Kobe Steelers set up in Japan.
Savea was into his second stint with the pro club, having played with them in the 2023-24 season, and again now in the 2025-26 season. Rennie had been coach since 2023.
Speaking to media in Auckland on Wednesday about Savea, Rennie remarked that he was “not going to divulge what conversations we’ve had”.
He explained that the star forward was looking forward though. “He's getting his body right and playing good footy for us. He's really excited about the future,” Rennie said.
He also promised Savea would return to New Zealand from Japan “in better condition than when he arrived”.
Other New Zealanders in the Kobe squad included Anton Lienert-Brown, Brodie Retallick, Ash Dixon, Kauvaka Kaivelata, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, and Bryn Gatland.
The Kobe club played in the Japan Rugby League One competition, and in the 2023-24 season finished fifth. This season, 2025-26, they were ranked second at the midpoint, with nine wins and one loss.
Savea has played 101 matches for the All Blacks, and was in 2023 awarded the prestigious World Rugby Player of the Year Award.
In announcing Rennie’s appointment on Wednesday, NZ Rugby said the new coach would “honour his commitments with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan until the conclusion of the Japan Rugby League One competition, before returning to New Zealand to prepare the All Blacks for the July home series against France, Italy and Ireland”.
Rennie said he believed being away from New Zealand while the Japanese season played out would not set his preparations back for the All Blacks.
He said he had a plan around preparation for the next All Blacks cycle, and he would be travelling between Japan and New Zealand for key meetings, and in “bye weeks”.
He said he was used to analysing rugby games post match, and he would be spending time doing that to get ready for the All Blacks.
“I watch a fair bit of footy, so I'm not concerned about having an understanding of where players are at,” he said.
NZ Rugby chairperson Kirk had said in announcing Rennie that he had a “clear direction” for the All Blacks, and “that gives us confidence the team will be well positioned to perform as we head into the 2027 Rugby World Cup”.