All Blacks v France: Dave Rennie kicks off new era, Nations Championship with bold ambitions
Saturday, 4 July 2026
What: Nations Championship, All Blacks v France. Where: One NZ Stadium, Christchurch. When: 7.10pm Saturday, Sky Sport 1.
New era, new hope. Dave Rennie’s first All Blacks team will be a long way from the finished product in Christchurch on Saturday night. That’s a given. But what they have to be is good enough to put away a hotch-potch France team missing a litany of leading lights.
That’s the backdrop to this much-anticipated return of test rugby to Christchurch, under the roof at the impressive One NZ Stadium, where Rennie’s first test as the new All Blacks coach will also be their opening international of the new Nations Championship.
Every win will be vital in this new format for July and November, possibly none more so than this first step on the journey under this break glass in case of emergency replacement head coach.
Rennie has come in because the All Blacks were a comparative rabble under Scott Robertson, and this old-school, vastly experienced new coach will be desperate to make a positive first stride down a pathway that ends, for the time being, at next year’s World Cup.
He has a master plan, and a lot of it surrounds a mindset of “optimism”, of high workrate, of heavy involvement, of grasping opportunity and of “brutality” at the breakdown. He wants his teams to physically wear down opponents, and then make them pay when energy and commitment wanes.
Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And nor were world-class test rugby teams. Rennie has had little more than a week with his first squad, and they will run out on Saturday night with talent to burn, but not time imbued in the new system.
“Playing with optimism is a mindset around how do you score from here,” he explained of his broad philosophy. “I want us, if the opposition spill ball or we get an advantage five metres from the line, thinking, ‘how do we score from here?’ But optimism is also around your work ethic, and getting people into position quickly so you can play.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to kick … but we want to kick on our terms. We want them to express themselves. But it’s test match footy and there will be times you have to get into an arm-wrestle.”
Rennie’s first selection has also been, well, interesting. He sprang a surprise by including Chiefs hard man Luke Jacobson in his top loose trio (Wallace Sititi hovers ominously on the bench, for now) and ruffled a few feathers by going back to the future and shifting Will Jordan to the wing to accommodate Damian McKenzie at the back.
There are also just four Hurricanes in his run-on XV (though five on his bench), which is hardly reflective of the heights that team reached in Super Rugby. Notably, the exciting Ruben Love is among them.
Jordan’s shift is assuredly not a biggie, but there are doubts about McKenzie as a genuine test fullback. He’s small in stature, if not in heart, but Rennie steadfastly backs a player who oozes that optimism he so cherishes.
“To have a couple of guys in the backfield with that sort of skillset, are great aerially, with excellent kicking games, are optimistic, will have a crack when it’s on, is exciting.”
And the loose trio? “We like Luke. He’s tough, and having a real physical presence against France is important. Both Peter [Lakai] and Ardie [Savea] will give us post-tackle presence, but are excellent athletes who suit our game.”
The rest is more predictable, with the robust Quinn Tupaea shading Billy Proctor for centre, and Tupou Vaai’s absence allowing Sam Darry and Josh Lord to set their stock in the second row. The bench, with that all-Canes front row, with Sititi, with the game-changing Fehi Fineanganofo, oozes impact too.
It’s also France without nine first-choice regulars, including superstars Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, well short of their best. Rennie played down the notable absences for a team selected from “the best competition in the world”.
“We’re well aware of what France can bring,” he said. “They’re big, they come alive when they’ve got opportunities to play, and they’ve got amazing guys who can kick distance and contestable. We’re not going to use the excuse we haven’t had enough time. We’re clear on our game model and detail within that. It will be a process to get the boys to a state skillset wise and condition wise that suits us … but we’ll be ready on Saturday.”
What is the Nations Championship?
Think Super Rugby Trans-Tasman 2021, but on steroids as World Rugby formalises the traditional July and November test windows into an inter-hemisphere challenge culminating in a finals weekend at Twickenham.
The 12 teams are separated into north and south groups and play all six teams from the other pool through the three-week windows in July (in the south) and November (in the north). Points are 4 for a win, 2 for a draw, and bonus points for four tries or a loss within seven. At the end 1 will play 1 for the overall title, 2 v 2, and so on right down to 6 v 6.
The essence is that every match counts, and it’s likely the winner will require at least five, maybe six, victories.
All Blacks: Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Ruben Love, Cam Roigard; Ardie Savea (capt), Luke Jacobson, Peter Lakai, Sam Darry, Josh Lord, Fletcher Newell, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Tyrel Lomax, Patrick Tuipulotu, Wallace Sititi, Cortez Ratima, Billy Proctor, Fehi Fineanganofo.
France: Max Spring, Damian Penaud, Fabien Brau-Boirie, Yoram Moefana, Théo Attissogbé, Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu (capt); Marko Gazzotti, Oscar Jégou, Pierre Bochaton, Tom Staniforth, Hugo Auradou, Demba Bamba, Maxime Lamothe, Jefferson Poirot. Reserves: Barnabé Massa, Reda Wardi, Régis Montagne, Mickaël Guillard, Killian Tixeront, Nolan Le Garrec, Antoine Hastoy, Nicolas Depoortere.
Referee: Luke Pearce (England).