The All Blacks’ choice at No 6 is a choice between two distinct styles
Sunday, 14 June 2026
ANALYSIS: There was a time when Blues loose forward Malachi Wrampling’s high tackle on Leicester Fainga’anuku last week would have attracted only a yellow card, not a red, or possibly just a penalty.
Further, it would have even burnished his reputation as an enforcer in the making with all the right ingredients for test rugby.
That era is done. Instead, Wrampling’s red card effectively cost the Blues the game in Christchurch as the Crusaders went on a tryscoring blitz in his absence.
It was a timely reminder of what’s really important in the race for the All Blacks’ No 6 jersey, as two very different styles have emerged in Super Rugby.
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First, there is the Jerome Kaino/Jerry Collins style most closely mirrored by Chiefs No 6 Samipeni Finau or Wrampling, who can play No 6 or No 8.
Second, there is the high volume tackle counts and work rate epitomised best by players such as Ethan Blackadder, Dom Gardiner and Te Kamaka Howden.
It’s a choice between bigger and BIGGA (Dave Rennie’s ‘Back In the Game, Go Again’ philosophy).
Finau has played 12 games this season, averaging 45 minutes a game, and has made 65 of 76 tackles.
Blackadder has played 11 games, averaging 59 minutes, and has made 156 of 172 tackles.
Gardiner has played 13 games, averaging 58 minutes, and has made 138 of 163 tackles.
Rennie’s choice at No 6 is going to signal how the All Blacks are going to play this year, because the leading choices play vastly different games.
Rennie past and recent selections at No 6 provide no obvious clue as to which way he will lean.
During his time at the Wallabies he took a shine to Waratahs bruiser Lachlan Swinton, despite the No 6 being a bit of a liability with his discipline.
Swinton was sent off on debut against the All Blacks in Brisbane in 2020, and poor discipline was a recurring theme of the Rennie era at the Wallabies.
But the No 6 selected by Rennie for the Japan Rugby League One final last weekend, Kiwi Tiennan Costley, is much more in the Blackadder/Gardiner mould.
What could swing a tight All Blacks selection race at No 6 is the need for balance in the loose forwards.
Ardie Savea at No 7 and Wallace Sititi or Peter Lakai at No 8 would bring a lot of dynamism, but leave the All Blacks’ lineout short of a genuine jumper.
Gardiner is an excellent lineout target and Blackadder has improved in this part of the game, while Howden would arguably be the pick of the bunch.
Finau ticks this box too, but he just doesn’t offer the same work rate as the others and his tackling style brings additional risk.
To Finau’s credit, his discipline has been good this year but old habit die hard and you only have to slip up once in a big test to invite calamity.
The super-accurate Anton Segner is another player who could be developed at a No 6 - another loose forward with a massive appetite for work, lineout prowess and a growing power component to his game.
New Zealanders pine for another Kaino or Collins, but they might be looking in the wrong direction - especially with Savea and Sititi already providing the power and explosive carries in the No 7 and No 8 jerseys.