Super Rugby final will show if Ruben Love is really ready to run the All Blacks at No 10
Monday, 15 June 2026
ANALYSIS: During Dave Rennie’s reign at the Chiefs, and before the Hurricanes’ Super Rugby success in 2016, he was asked for his thoughts on the Aaron Cruden versus Beauden Barrett debate.
Well, Rennie said, Cruden has won a Super Rugby title.
That ultimately how Ruben Love and Damian McKenzie will be judged this year.
The No 10s will meet in the Super Rugby Pacific final on Saturday just three days before the All Blacks squad is announced, and it will be a test to see who has the big match temperament to deliver a drought-breaking championship for the Hurricanes or Chiefs.
Read more:
Super Rugby Pacific: Chiefs score seven tries to demolish Crusaders 49-12 in Hamilton semifinal
Hurricane warning: Super Rugby’s best team set to dominate Dave Rennie’s All Blacks selection
McKenzie has the edge in the race for the All Blacks No 10 jersey - if Rennie see him as a first-five - but Love has more to gain next Saturday.
He wasn’t great in the semfinal win against the Blues on Saturday, just as he wasn’t at his best in the loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton in April.
For all of his obvious improvements this year, those two performances suggest he is closer to apprentice status than master.
But the final offers a chance to tip that on its head.
Conversely, another final loss for McKenzie be damaging. Elite No 10s win things - Richie Mo’unga is the perfect example of that.
The blowouts seen in the first two weeks of the playoffs aren’t likely to be repeated in the decider.
The Chiefs were outstanding on Friday - Kyren Taumoefolau is probably the closest thing New Zealand has to French superstar winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey - but it is unlikely that the Hurricanes will miss as many one-on-one tackles as the Crusaders.
That April encounter between the Hurricanes and Chiefs was brutal at times.
As a result, the option-taking and control at No 10 became more important, and McKenzie appeared to have an edge - he was that little bit more decisive.
The bigger picture is that the stars are really starting to align for Rennie and the brand of rugby will bring to the All Blacks.
In fact, Blues and Crusaders players shouldn’t be too hard on themselves as they reflect on semifinal scorelines that traditionally would be labelled as near-embarrassments.
The game has changed. Attack is in, and defence is out. Scotland put 50 on Antoine Dupont and France in the Six Nations, and Les Bleus then conceded 46 at home to England - and still won.
The Springboks racked up 68 points against Argentina last year, and the Irish hammered Australia 46-19.
Bordeaux-Begles won the Champions Cup by laying waste to Leinster 41-19, and Rennie’s Kobe scored 69 points in their Japan Rugby League One semifinal victory.
This isn’t a Super Rugby thing, it’s a rugby thing. Game trends have shifted, and quickly, and in New Zealand no two teams were better placed to take advantage of those changes than the Hurricanes and Chiefs.
Love and McKenzie are therefore in tune with times as they prepare to face each other on Saturday, and both are going to play huge roles for the All Blacks.
But there’ll be only one winner on Saturday, and that will settle the No 10 debate.