Four key takeaways from the All Blacks’ scratchy 47-17 win against Italy in Wellington

Sunday, 12 July 2026

It’s fair to say there will be mixed emotions when Dave Rennie sits down with his assistants and evaluates his second test in charge of the All Blacks.

Sure, a 47-17 victory over any tier 1 nation is not to be sneezed at, but Rennie will know the All Blacks would not have been so lucky against a more superior opponent than 10th ranked Italy.

That includes Ireland, who the All Blacks will host at Eden Park next weekend in their final game before their looming tour of South Africa.

In the meantime, here are four takeaways from the All Blacks’ second test of the year.

A mixed bag

The All Blacks can preach playing with ‘optimism’ - a word we’ve heard a zillion times the past few weeks - all they like, but it means zilch without execution.

That was particularly evident during a lousy first half, when the All Blacks were plagued by handling errors, poor execution and ill discipline.

After having their praises sung for their attacking prowess after their narrow victory over France - it was a contrasting shambles as they made six handling errors and conceded six penalties by halftime.

And it started almost immediately, with Italy cashing in a Will Jordan fumble and Billy Proctor missed tackle to take a surprise 7-0 lead inside three minutes, leaving the hosts rocked in the opening exchanges two straight tests to start the Rennie era.

Breakdown and offside penalties followed, as did handling errors, with Wallace Sititi guilty of a few on the night.

The All Blacks also botched a high ball and conceded a couple of free kicks, the first from their own scrum feed inside their 22.

Then there was the decision which should have pleased anyone fed up with players getting a head start via restarts, with French referee Luc Ramos all over the All Blacks for just that after Italy took a 10-7 lead.

It can only have been head scratching stuff in the All Blacks’ coaching box.

The good news for Rennie was, despite their ineptness, the All Blacks scratched out a 14-10 lead at the split, before blowing the game open with four tries in 12 minutes.

“It’s a pass mark, but we will need to be better next week,” Rennie said.

“I thought we were pretty passive defensively in the first 10 or 15 minutes, but really good beyond that.

“We were excellent after halftime and probably disappointing that last 25 minutes when we were just loose. We just needed to be a little bit more accurate.”

A Ferrari in black

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Damian McKenzie referred to Will Jordan as a Ferrari, one they need to take ‘out of the garage at the right time of the week’.

After the selectors refrained from resting the silky outside back on Saturday, Jordan turned in a high octane, record-breaking performance in the No 14 jersey.

His hat-trick didn’t just help the All Blacks ease clear and dispatch Italy in the second half, it propelled him to the top of the team’s all-time try-scoring list.

Jordan’s 50 tries in 56 games relegates Doug Howlett (49 from 62 tests) to second, with the latter last playing for the All Blacks in 2007.

To think Jordan, who debuted in 2020, has had his fair share of injuries and is just 28-years-old.

Indeed, he might not ever be caught by the time he is done adding on.

A lack of box kicks

It was a sight for sore eyes last week against France, and it continued in the capital.

All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard uncorked just four box kicks before he was replaced by Cortez Ratima in the 57th minute.

That included one on his own try line shortly after the All Blacks snuffed out a raid early in the second half.

First five-eighth Ruben Love also barely put boot to ball. And when he did, he pulled off a 50-22 via a sublime banana kick.

Indeed, while their execution was lacking outside of the the 14-minute burst to start the second half, the All Blacks have made it clear through two tests that they’d much rather run it out from their own half than unload box kicks and get bogged down by aerial warfare.

High praise for two rookies

Josh Moorby has only played 49 minutes of test rugby and he’s already drawing comparisons to the All Blacks’ newly minted record try scorer.

“Josh has got similar qualities to Will. His anticipation, his ability to get into position to take a pass and give a pass….he is just a really smart footy player, I thought he was excellent,” Rennie said.

Moorby, who scored a Super Rugby record 17 tries along with Fehi Fineanganofo this year, sure was full of running after replacing Leroy Carter (shoulder) late in the first half.

He made a game-high four line breaks and two try assists, and only Jordan (92) gained more metres than him (86).

With his parents sitting alongside injured All Black and good friend Leicester Fainga’anuku in the Hnry Stadium stands, German-born loose forward Anton Segner also got his first taste of test rugby.

After replacing Luke Jacobson (calf) at halftime, Segner made a couple of strong carries and finished with seven tackles during what Rennie called a significantly improved defensive performance from a week ago.

“Anton, he gave us what we expected, tackles hard, cleans hard, post tackle presence.

“Defensively, obviously [assistant coach] Tana Umaga has put a lot of time into them, and it was good to see a bit of a response.”