Hurricanes star Ruben Love takes a step towards All Blacks No 10 jersey by seeing the whole picture

Monday, 30 March 2026

ANALYSIS: The biggest mistake a young No 10 can make is trying to do everything by themselves.

Tony Brown recently cautioned Springboks star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu against falling into this trap when the No 10’s franchise, the Stormers, experienced a mini-slump.

Judging by Ruben Love’s performance against the Reds on Saturday, the Hurricanes No 10 is getting similarly wise counsel from Clark Laidlaw and Jason Holland and acting on it.

Love is currently underplaying his hand, and as a result his influence as a rugby player is expanding.

Read more:

• Has Hurricanes hero and Super Rugby Pacific star Fehi Fineanganofo let All Blacks shot slip?

• Super Rugby Pacific: Blues muscle up to kick clear of Fijian Drua in second half

• Error-ridden Chiefs scrap to ugly Super Rugby Pacific win over Force in Perth

• All you need to know about Dave Rennie’s new All Blacks coaching group

Evidence of his growing maturity appeared during the build-up to the Hurricanes' first try.

A younger Love might have smashed his way into contact after receiving the ball on the right-hand touchline, or even beaten a player or two with his footwork before being tackled.

The 2026 version thought better of that, dishing the ball off to Asafo Aumua so he could actually do his own job as a No 10: getting into position for the next phase and organising his forwards and backline.

About 30 seconds later, Cam Roigard was running in for the Hurricanes’ opening try, partly because Love had created width in the play instead of being stuck at the bottom of a ruck.

For the first time, Love is really starting to look like an All Blacks No 10. He's already a test-calibre rugby player, but if he can pull off the transition to No 10, new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie could really be in business.

Of course, people will say that Love played No. 10 in school and it's his true position anyway. However, he has been shifted so many times between No 10, fullback and even the wing during his career that he essentially started from scratch this year.

His decision-making and core passing and kicking skills during the past two games have been highly encouraging for anyone who wants to see him succeed - and the All Blacks arguably need him to.

The caveat is that no one really knows how much the New Zealand teams are actually being tested by the Australian sides, especially when in an alternative universe Love would still be going up against the likes of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and the Stormers in Cape Town.

A better test awaits after the Hurricanes' bye, when Beauden Barrett brings his Blues to Wellington.

If Love stands up well against Barrett, there will be a temptation to see it as a passing-of-the-baton moment, although the truth is more complicated.

On current form, Barrett won't be the player threatened by Love's rise; that will be Damian McKenzie.

The Chiefs playmaker has been poor in his past two outings - he missed another late penalty against the Force on Saturday that could have been costly against better opposition.

The challenge now for Love will be just to continue doing what he is doing: there's no need to produce a highlights reel play for the Instagram feed.

Everyone remembers Dan Carter's moments of magic, but the truth is his great career was built on brilliantly repeating simple actions: slinging the ball to players in better positions; gaining good metres with his clearing kicks; plugging the corners with kicks to touch; and drawing in defenders with the mere threat of his running game.

That's the formula Love used against the Reds, and he should never get bored with it.