All Blacks coach Dave Rennie is confident he can tinker with the side and still maintain winning momentum.
Rennie has made eleven total changes to his All Blacks side to play Italy, five in the starting XV and six in the reserves, though has kept several key combinations intact.
“We’ve got a lot of depth in the squad and it’s good competition for places, but keen to keep some combinations together and get a little bit of continuity that way,” Rennie said.
Among those combinations are Will Jordan on the right wing and Damian McKenzie at fullback.
Will Jordan of the All Blacks scores a try in the tackle of Theo Attissogbe of France.
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Rennie said he wanted to see more of the pair together.
“Everyone keeps talking about Will being out of position. He’s scored 37 tries for the All Blacks on the wing, so he’s pretty comfortable there.
“Having both him and Damian on the field means we’ve got two really high quality fullbacks on the field. I’m not necessarily saying we’ll do that all year, but we’re keen to keep that combination going.”
There are two changes in the backline with Leroy Carter on the left wing in place of Caleb Clarke, who drops out of the match-day 23, and Billy Proctor has been named at centre taking over from Quinn Tupaea with Anton Lienert-Brown, who missed Super Rugby to play in Japan this year, on the bench.
Billy Proctor celebrates scoring a try with team mates.
MARK EVANS
Rennie said he wanted to get a look at Proctor in the test environment alongside his Hurricanes teammate Jordie Barrett, though he said Tupaea had a strong performance against France.
“All had great seasons and we’ve got great depth in midfield. Obviously the two that played last week, Quinn had a great test, I thought. Billy’s had a great season, Anton’s had a great season over at Kobe, so keen to give those boys a bit more time.”
Ruben Love also maintains his spot after his first start at first-five this week. Rennie said he wanted the Hurricanes star to continue to build.
“Playing back at home, we’re keen to play him again and with ‘DMac’ at the back, we’ve got probably other positions on the bench that give us better cover.”
Anton Segner.
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Another change sees a straight switch between Wallace Sititi and Peter Lakai at blindside, with Blues loosie Anton Segner in line for a test debut off the bench.
Rennie said Segner, the first German All Black, will get game time.
“We’re keen to get him into the game reasonably early to give him some time to find his feet. He’s been excellent.
“He’s a genuine line-out option and he gets a hell of a lot of steals. His family’s coming over from Germany. It will be great for them to be here to see it.”
Rennie praised the performance of Luke Jacobson, who raised a few eyebrows when he was named at openside for the French, but will again start on Saturday.
“I’d say it was his best game in an All Black jersey,” Rennie said.
“He’s an excellent player and we try and pick complementary skill sets. When you’ve got a couple of athletes like Pete and Ardie on the field, Luke just does so much unseen work and so the quality of his defence is clean out.
“The hard yards that he did created opportunities for others and so we were keen to give him an opportunity to back that up.”
Luke Jacobson in action against France.
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Rennie said while pleased with his team’s attacking intent, their defence was an area of weakness in Christchurch.
“I thought our brutality with the ball was excellent. We won a lot of races, created a really quick ball. Probably wasn’t the same defensively. We want a lot more line speed so that’ll be a big part, maybe a little bit more patience. I love the mindset. We just need to be a little bit more clinical.”
Despite dropping their season opener to Japan last week, Rennie is not taking the Italians lightly.
“They will be a different creature. I think maybe they underestimated Japan. Pretty hot conditions over there at this time of year, and maybe they had an eye towards this game and so we won’t make the same mistake. We are well aware of their ability. They’re not going to sneak into town. We are well aware of the threat.”
With threats such as Tommaso Menoncello and Paolo Garbisi in their ranks, Rennie said Italy possess plenty of firepower.
“They can play, they’ve got quality backs, their ability to sweep and get big numbers on one side of the field, and they’re really innovative. That can create a bit of havoc for us, but it can create opportunity too, if we’re good enough to hold our feet and pick them off.”
Italy have never beaten the All Blacks, but Wellington hasn’t always been the happiest of hunting grounds for the hosts of late, with losses to South Africa and Argentina in the last couple of years.
