Why Dave Rennie returned to Manawatū rugby heartland to name his first All Blacks squad of 2026, and who gets the nod

Saturday, 20 June 2026

Dave Rennie during a stint coaching Manawatū in 2011 (file photo).

If Wellington was where new All Blacks coach Dave Rennie learned his rugby craft, Manawatū was something of a finishing school.

When NZ Rugby chair David Kirk reads out 34 names in the first squad of 2026 at noon on Monday, it will be at Feilding Yellows Rugby Club in green and white rugby heartland, rather than where it all began for Rennie at Upper Hutt Rugby Club at Maidstone Park.

As Rennie told longtime Manawatū Standard sports editor Peter Lampp a year ago, during his off-season from coaching Kobe Steelers in Japan: “I see it as more about what Manawatū did for me. It got me inspired. It got me an opportunity to see a lot of the world.”

Rennie won an NPC with Wellington in 1986 as a robust midfielder, then retired at 27 due to injury. He began coaching when a teacher at Fergusson Intermediate, took on Upper Hutt’s premier side then was elevated to the Wellington job. He coached them to an NPC title in 2000 but was cut loose two years later.

In 2006 he arrived in Palmerston North to take on the Turbos with emerging stars like Aaron Cruden and Aaron Smith, a small fish in the NPC pond with a fraction of the budget and pulling power of the big city teams.

Twenty years later it is home for Rennie who lives on a lifestyle block on the city’s outskirts. Had he not got the All Blacks job, Rennie had lined up an unpaid assistant coaching role with the Turbos under his former Kobe assistant Wesley Clarke.

Lampp began his 2025 piece with: “Dave Rennie carries messianic qualities as far as Manawatū rugby folk are concerned.”

So to Feilding we go. The two-hour drive from Wellington passes heartland towns like Paekākāriki (which produced Christian Cullen), Paraparaumu (Dane Coles) and Levin (Carlos Spencer, Codie Taylor and the 2024 bolter, Pasilio Tosi, a likely inclusion in the 34).

Feilding Yellows play at their home ground at Johnston Park.

Taylor, too, has Feilding connections, having moved from Horowhenua College to rugby powerhouse Feilding High School in his final year. All Blacks’ 153-test recordholder Sam Whitelock and brothers George, Luke and Adam went there, as did 125-test halfback Smith.

Feilding is in the Hurricanes’ catchment so it’s appropriate when prop Xavier Numia and Super Rugby’s top-two season tryscorers Fehi Fineanganofo (16) and Josh Moorby (15) look likely uncapped inclusions. As reported by The Post rugby writer Paul Cully, NZR will not block Rennie from picking Fineanganofo, the breakout star of 2026 who signed with Newcastle Red Bulls in January.

In-form Blues flanker Anton Segner - who made his name at Nelson College - is another potential talking point as, potentially, the first All Black from Germany, a year after lock Fabian Holland chalked one up for The Netherlands.

Last year’s squad was read out at Coastal Rugby Club outside New Plymouth - home of the three Barrett brothers - while previous coaches Scott Robertson (Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre), Ian Foster (Te Awamutu Rugby Club) and Steve Hansen (Prebbleton Rugby Club) kept it close to home.

Back from winning another title with Kobe, Rennie, in quotes supplied by NZR, noted Feilding’s strong connection to the All Blacks via Whitelock, Taylor and Smith. Assistant coach and co-selector Neil Barnes also boarded at what was then known as Feilding Agricultural High School.

“I also love that we’re taking these squad namings into the regions, because these rural towns have played such a massive part in our game’s success when you look at the number of high-profile players who have come out of rural New Zealand.

“For me personally, Manawatū is home. So it’s really special to be returning home and then bringing our first All Blacks squad naming to this region.”