Can All Blacks coach Dave Rennie select Beauden Barrett in team to play Ireland?

Monday, 13 July 2026

ANALYSIS: If the Irish turn up the temperature against the All Blacks in Auckland next Saturday night, it could reheat old feuds.

Would that be a bad thing? Probably not.

Given the modest fare served-up when the All Blacks defeated Italy 47-17 in the Cake Tin in the Nations Championship test in Wellington on Saturday evening, there's a lot to like about the prospect of the Irish swaggering into the big smoke, slowly chewing gum and making it known they want to push the locals around in their own backyard.

Sloppy handling, lack of ball control, questionable option-taking and ill-discipline were unwanted features of a performance that All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said warranted a 'pass mark'' against Italy.

So if the Irish want to get heavy, and fancy their chances of becoming the first team to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1994, things could get a bit tasty.

Amid the ugly stuff served-up by the All Blacks against the Italians, there was also plenty of magic dust.

There's no going past the obvious: Right wing Will Jordan is a player who would tempt many international coaches to pawn the family silverware if it meant getting him to switch allegiances to play in their starting XV.

Because when Jordan is at the peak of his powers, he's deadly.

And right now, his best position for the All Blacks appears to be in the No 14 jersey after Rennie told him to relocate from fullback to allow Damian McKenzie to play at the back.

The hat-trick of tries against Italy has propelled Jordan into the record books for the All Blacks. His strike-rate of 50 tries in 56 test appearances has been phenomenal.

Rennie and his assistants, especially attack coach Mike Blair, will hope there's plenty more gold to flow from the man called Jordan.

Having beaten France and Italy in the opening rounds of the championship, the All Blacks have joined Ireland and South Africa as the only teams not to suffer defeat.

Ireland, having made changes to the side that narrowly pipped the Wallabies after the home side's goal kicker Ben Donaldson missed a late penalty in Sydney, easily beat Japan in Newcastle on Saturday.

The clash at Eden Park next weekend will be the first time the two sides have met on New Zealand soil since the Irish defeated the All Blacks in Wellington to secure an historic 2-1 series win in 2022.

It was a rugged affair. Irish loose forward Peter O'Mahony rankled All Blacks fans when he called All Blacks captain Sam Cane a 'sh*t Richie McCaw'', a comment that was picked up by the referee's microphone.

After the match, when a small group of All Blacks headed into town to drown their sorrows with a few drinks, former All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall, now a commentator for Sky Sport, was caught on a punter's phone camera giving the players a serve.

But that was nothing compared to what was to follow. Things were about to really kick off.

Mark Robinson, the chief executive officer of NZ Rugby, stuck it to All Blacks coach Ian Foster by labelling the series loss 'not acceptable''.

Foster reacted by sacking his assistants John Plumtree and Brad Mooar, and later brought Jason Ryan and Joe Schmidt in to travel down the path that eventually led to the 12-11 loss to the Springboks in the final of the 2023 World Cup in Paris.

A number of players in the current squad were key members of Foster's squad. Jordan started in the third test against Ireland. So, too, did Ardie Savea, Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Codie Taylor.

The All Blacks have had the wood on the Irish in recent years.

They secured victories in Chicago, Dublin and Paris; the game in the French capital was the famous World Cup quarterfinal victory in 2023 that made Ireland great Johnny Sexton go bananas after he copped a mouthful from All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane.

Now for Eden Park in Auckland.

1 What changes will Rennie make for Ireland?

It doesn't matter who the opposition is. An All Blacks coach is always going to be under the pump.

Especially when a test is scheduled for Eden Park.

The responsibility of preserving the All Blacks' record at the venue - the team's most recent loss at the ground was against France in 1994 - could do more than give the man in charge sleepless nights.

It could send him troppo. This is a big deal.

When Rennie coached the Wallabies between 2020 and 2022 the team played the All Blacks in Bledisloe Cup fixtures at Eden Park on four occasions and, this would surprise no-one, lost the lot.

Now that he's charged with guarding the fortress, he can't afford to take unnecessary risks.

Although Rennie said last week that he may not play everyone in the squad, he must be sorely tempted to give Beauden Barrett, Simon Parker, Kyle Preston and Patrick Tuipulotu (if recovered from a sore calf) some minutes against the Irish.

Last week Rennie said Barrett, who was representing the 'opposition'' at training, had been in top nick with his running game. The test centurion could, at the very least, be on the bench to cover No 10 and fullback.

If he elects to be bold, he could demote Damian McKenzie to the bench and start Barrett at fullback. That would allow Ruben Love to continue his apprenticeship at No 10.

Blindside flanker Wallace Sititi's handling errors against Italy were a worry, and the bulky Parker could offer defensive dynamite against the Irish. Halfback Preston needs more time at the highest level, and may deputise for Cam Roigard.

Ireland are ranked No 3 in the world, just one spot behind the All Blacks, and although not the force they were in 2022 and 2023, their coach Andy Farrell will have his team primed.

He was a warrior for English rugby league club Wigan prior to switching to the 15-man code late in his career, and has brought that same hard-nosed mentality to his teams.

And the Irish won't have been intimidated from what they have seen from the All Blacks.

2 Cam Roigard versus Jamison Gibson-Park

Halfback Gibson-Park wasn't named in the Ireland match-day 23 for the match against Japan in Newcastle after Farrell made nine changes to the side that squeaked past the Wallabies.

Kiwi born-and-raised Gibson-Park appears certain to start at Eden Park, a venue he knows well from his days at the Blues.

Roigard was replaced by Cortez Ratima in the 58th minute of the test against Italy, having played the majority of the test against the French in Christchurch a week earlier.

Given what's at stake at Eden Park, Rennie will surely start Roigard.

Tickets for test matches are not cheap, so the opportunity for spectators to compare the skillsets of Roigard and Jamison-Park could help ease the pain caused from the burning hole in their pockets.

3 What happens if left wing Leroy Carter is unavailable?

Injured in the first half of the test against Italy, Carter did well to ignore the pain when he helped set up a try for Jordan.

He was replaced by debutant Josh Moorby in the 32nd minute.

With Fehi Fineanganofo unavailable in Wellington because of a sore shoulder, and Leicester Fainga'anuku not considered for the Nations Championship due to a leg injury, the list of injured finishers is growing.

Caleb Clarke, who started on the left wing against France, was overlooked for the match against Italy and it's difficult to ascertain whether he was dropped or just forced to make way because Rennie wanted to rotate selections.

On current form, Moorby may deserve another look at Eden Park.

Clark, however, has 34 test caps in his rugby passport. That could be the decisive factor.