Rennie unveils captain and four uncapped players in All Black squad
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: New All Black coach Dave Rennie named Ardie Savea as captain, promising “optimistic” rugby ahead of the July Nations Championship Tests against France, Italy and Ireland.
The 62-year-old Rennie has returned to New Zealand after coaching Japanese side Kobe, replacing Scott Robertson as All Black coach just over a year before the Rugby World Cup.
Four debutants were named in Rennie’s first 34-man New Zealand squad.
Three are from the newly crowned Super Rugby champions, the Hurricanes – prop Xavier Numia, plus wings Josh Moorby and Fehi Fineanganofo.
Blues flanker Anton Segner is the other new face, with Rennie praising the “outstanding seasons” of all four players.
Savea replaced long-term injury victim Scott Barrett as captain and will continue to lead the side when Barrett returns from back surgery.
“With Ardie, in his Pasifika way, he tried to bat it off a bit and said, ‘ Whatever you decide, I’ll support. If you want to go with someone else, I’ll get behind that person’,” Rennie told reporters of his captaincy conversation with Savea.
“What we know with Ardie, he’s not a massive talker, but he’ll lead through his actions.
“Having him as captain, he has massive respect. Very experienced. We think it’s best for the team, and I think he’ll only get better.”
Super Rugby this season has seen teams succeed by holding onto the ball more with less tactical kicking.
Rennie said his All Blacks team will look to play “optimistic” rugby.
‘We want to play’
“There’s a real brutality in the game required, whether you’re carrying or whether you’re defending,” Rennie said.
“We’ll kick, but we’ll kick smart and have a balance to our game. You can’t just keep everything in hand because you become too easy to defend.
“But yeah, we want to play.”
While coaching in Japan, Rennie relied on his New Zealand-based coaching team to assess players in Super Rugby, and called in former coach Graham Henry as a selector.
“It’s changed my life for the last two months,” said Henry, who led the All Blacks to World Cup glory in 2011.
“I was sleeping well and totally relaxed and catching a lot of fish, that’s all changed.
“I’m not sleeping well. I’m dreaming about the team, waking up thinking about selection. I’ve looked at a huge amount of footage, a lot of stats.
“I’m excited by the team that we’ve picked.”
New Zealand kick off their Nations Championship campaign against France on July 4 in Christchurch.
They then face Italy in Wellington a week later before taking on Ireland on July 18 in Auckland.
New Zealand squad:
Forwards: Asafo Aumua, Codie Taylor, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Ethan De Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia, Tyrel Lomax, Fletcher Newell, Pasilio Tosi, Tupou Vaa’i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry, Peter Lakai, Simon Parker, Ardie Savea (captain), Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson, Anton Segner.
Backs: Cameron Roigard, Cortez Ratima, Kyle Preston, Ruben Love, Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie, Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke, Fehi Fineanganofo, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Will Jordan.
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