DSPN - Devlin Sports Podcast Network
LIVE REACTION: Dave Rennie names his first All Blacks squad
22 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Dave Rennie's first All Blacks squad announcement?
this is the dspn tone let us start by congratulating everyone of course that here's their name today yeah it's a very special day it's been a massive day for sport already we've had a us golf open we've got the all whites we know coming up at one o'clock but this is a really special day in new zealand sport the first squad and also the
A life-changing day for four players and four families who these players now get a number and become part of a very privileged club. Xavier Numia, Anton Segner, Fihi and Josh Morby, congratulations especially to those four.
And they all deserve it, Martin. Anton Segner has been the best player in a Blues team that fell away towards the end of the season, but he didn't fall away. In the backs, well, Finianga Norfolk, that answers the question to a degree.
I think we're going to find out from Dave Rennie very shortly just what's been going on behind the scenes there, because it sounds like there's been some sort of delay or compromise reached with Newcastle and England to allow him to play for the All Blacks this year. Josh Morby, who absolutely deserves on a fantastic season, what, 16 tries, ability to play wing and fullback.
And, of course, Xavier Numia, who, well, if he was a fringe player, I wouldn't have had him as a fringe player. I probably would have had him in there. But, boy, put it beyond any doubt with a stunning performance in the final. So, yeah, a massive moment in their lives. You think of the story of Anton Cegna, a young man who came to New Zealand to pursue a dream, a bit like Fabian Holland did.
And here he is now after working his way through the system and just getting a better player with every outing. He's one of those sorts of players. Makes his way into the team and that's another incredible story really of a player who had a dream. shipped himself off across the other side of the world away from his family into a country where he was not a natural English speaker.
And look what's happened to him. So those are four great stories. And of course, those are the ones that always stand out in an all black team announcement, of course.
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Chapter 2: Who are the four new caps selected for the All Blacks?
But then you've got on the other side of the coin, there's a number of players who are very unlucky not to be in the side that we can talk about. the door's not closed on those players because I think they're going to take a big squad to South Africa. And most of the names that we mentioned will be part of that as well. But yeah, Dave Rennie's first team is certainly some talking points.
Let us go to Dave Rennie then. Boys, have we got that lined up? First question, we're going to take a couple of cuts out of the press conference here. And the first one is about the four new caps, Noumea, Finiangana, Formobi and Segna. And the question put to the coach was simply, what did they show you? We're just waiting for that. We had that. Presco again. Four new caps.
him and again that's based on form. What do you foresee happening? Is there a possibility he could be extricated from that contract? I'll let others work through that process but our focus is we've got a test against France, we want the best players available and Fiji's one of those.
Does that mean in the background New Zealand rugby is working on getting him out of that contract?
It's not for me to comment on. No doubt Fihi will be here today and we'll get similar questions but our focus is really on what we've got available for us now and we'll see where things end up.
So, yeah, let's just briefly touch on that. Fehi, obviously, halfway through the season, we knew, Tony, that he had been signed by Newcastle. He was leaving. He was gone. He starts scoring try after try after try for fun. He starts being talked about as the form winger in the competition. And then, of course...
The narrative changes to, wow, wouldn't it be good if we could somehow keep him in the All Blacks? How can that possibly happen? And then a few weeks ago it emerged that something had happened, something had changed. And now we get confirmation. And it isn't just ripping up a contract that he had signed. By the sounds of it, a deal has been done with New Zealand Rugby then.
Well, first and foremost, I think if Caleb Tangitao had not got injured and he was in devastating form as well, then maybe it could be a different story. By the way, there was a question in there about is New Zealand rugby working away behind the scenes. New Zealand rugby is not allowed to do that. The international rugby laws are such that they cannot get involved in something like that.
Well, how does it take place then?
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Ardie Savea being named captain?
You're not to be seen to be getting involved, but I guess someone said, look, if you stay, you'll be in the All Blacks, and it's probably up to the player and his representatives to try and strike some sort of compromise deal. OK, we're still going to come. I'm still going to come, but can we just delay it? It seems that that's the case.
And I suppose they'll be hoping that either he gets to the end of the year, does so well, loves it so much that he goes, you know what, I might not go, or... Perhaps Caleb Tangitao comes back into the reckoning. He's got a long road back from the injury that he suffered. So, yeah, look, it's just good to see him on the team because he's an excitement machine.
Of course, he's a player who's come out of the sevens ranks. And so as well as his natural wingers game where he can finish off tries, he can create things, he works well with his insides, but he's also got the ability that you have to have in sevens to... Getting in there, making tackles, winning a bit of ball on the ground because that's the way it goes in seven.
So he's been one of the stories of the year and it's been capped off now with his first election for the All Blacks. And clearly they see him as playing in this Nations Cup series in July with the three test matches against France, Italy and Ireland and going to South Africa. Clearly, yeah. And on the end of year tour, by the sound of it. He said, we've got him till November.
Whether that means the end of November or the beginning of November, I don't know. But that'll all come out in the wash. But clearly, he's been tapped on the shoulder and say, we really want you. And they've found a way to make it happen.
So what does this tell you about Dave Rennie's attitude? It's very pragmatic, isn't it? That traditionally, all black coaches have looked at players that are going and going, well, you are going and therefore do we use you?
Well, I think there'll be some players in there that have probably missed out on account of the fact that they're going, but I think they see this guy's got some special qualities they really want to keep. The other players might have been in situations where, well, it's either him or him, and if there's two players of...
similar ability then they might stick with the guy who's not going but in this case I think they definitely wanted him in the team and the other wing of course Josh Morby and again you talk about stories here's a guy who went off to play in France found that it wasn't to his liking came back to New Zealand and has just shot the lights out all year and he's been scoring tries but also there's creative play and his ability to cover fullback so two new caps on the wings and
Obviously, there's been some injury issues there. Imoni Narawa, who's a player who might have been in the selection frame had he been fit. We talked about Caleb Tangitao. So, you know, and Lester Whanga-Onuku, who from our understanding, Dave Rennie saw first and foremost as a winger and anything else, a distant second in terms of centre and then third as an injured player.
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Chapter 4: What were the surprising selections and omissions in the squad?
And I spoke with both those men earlier on, and I know they'd both be honoured to lead the team. And with Artie in his Pasifika way, he tried to bat it off a bit and says, oh, look, whatever you decide, I'll support if you want to go with someone else, I'll get behind that person.
So what we know with Artie, he's not a massive talker but he'll lead through his actions and having him as captain, massive respect, very experienced, we think it's best for the team and I think he'll only get better.
A couple of things here, Tone. This is a guy who's had an enormous workload and hasn't stopped. So at the end of year two of last year, when most people took a break, he hasn't. He's gone to Japan and he's had to be committed to that contract in play. Dave Rennie's obviously been watching him every week, and so he knows.
But there was some suggestion during the year that maybe he may be rested for these three test matches looking at South Africa. But again, by the time he gets to South Africa, he's played continuously for the best part of 18 months. In terms of his qualities and in terms of him getting that job, I don't think there's anybody that's going to sit there and argue against it. He's a natural captain.
He's been the captain before.
And I think captaincy has to rest comfortably on the shoulders of a player because we have seen the odd all-black captain over the years. And Reuben Thorne, when he was captain, you could tell that there were aspects of the role that he weren't... that he wasn't comfortable with.
He just liked to get out there on the field, get his head down, do the business, and get thrust into that captaincy role. I felt it was probably quite a similar thing with Scott Barrett. It didn't fit too easily or as easily on his shoulders as other players. And Artie Savia, I think captaincy sits very comfortably on his shoulders. As Dave Rennie said, he is a lead-by-example man.
He's a follow-me man. He's, I guess, a completely different kind of captain to some that we've had in the past. But he's been watching him in Japan at very close range. You clearly have been talking to him. He will have told him what he requires of him as the captain. These are your responsibilities to the team, to me, to yourself. You're right.
When you consider he had a very heavy workload with Moana Pacifica last year. He played a lot of test rugby and then went off to Japan. And I can understand why you might think that is a heavy workload.
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Chapter 5: How does the selection of Kyle Preston impact the All Blacks' strategy?
It's not like it's just about playing anymore when you are the all-black captain.
I mean, the classic thing that you want from an all-black captain, he's got to be a team-first person. All of the great all-black captains are team-first people. He has to be one of your best players because they need to be on the field as much as possible. I have no doubt that there'll be times he'll come off the field and someone else will take over the reins.
Geordie Barrett, to me, is a natural. I wonder whether he'll be one. I'm sure he'll be one of the vice captains or you've got Cody Taylor, players like that who are experienced players. But Yeah, Dave Rennie, I'm not surprised that that's the decision. I wondered at one point whether or not Geordie Barrett might be considered.
Again, it's got to be a player who's going to be on the field a lot of the time. But there's absolutely no surprise to me that Artie Salvia is the captain, will continue to be the captain, and by the sound of it, always was Dave Rennie's choice.
All right, as I said earlier, if you've just joined us, thanks so much, DSPN. We're going to be broadcasting at least through to 1 o'clock till the All Whites kick off. Surprise inclusions, unlucky omissions, fringe players and the Richie Mawunga issue all to come. We're going to be discussing with Tony.
I can see Jamie there outside the Fielding Rugby Club at the moment wearing his provocative Vikings. The Vikings. The Vikings jersey that you'll know. And Jamie, you've just been there after watching the Hurricanes with us on Saturday night, live now at this announcement, this presser. And it is always, as we said when we started the program, kind of an emotional event as much as anything else.
I mean, there's a lot of joy in that room, isn't there? And you've got newbie players, you've got families, and you've got a brand new coaching panel. So just run us through it all.
Yeah, it's feeling a lot of emotion at the moment. A room full of young players from the area. Of course, we are here at the home of the Fielding Yellows. Great club rooms they've got in there. And yeah, it's a really nice community. I am a big fan of the way New Zealand rugby do this by getting these announcements out to the provinces. Last year, we were at Coastal Rugby Club in Taranaki.
This year, we're at Fielding. So yeah, it's pretty cool. I will say one thing. The first thing I noticed, Neil Barnes. What a guy. Went around and shook every kid in the room's hand. Had a little chat with him.
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Chapter 6: What is the current status of players like Du’Plessis Kirifi and Noah Hotham?
Really nice touch there from Barnsey, who's quickly becoming a really popular addition to the All Blacks.
So what are your initial takeaways from the naming of this squad? Anything that really stands out for you, struck you as a surprise thing? And also Adi as captain, which we've already played that clip from Dave Rennie.
Yeah, yeah. I'm not particularly surprised with the new caps. It's pretty hard to leave out the two top try scorers in Super Rugby. And so well done to Fihifene Genovo and Josh Morby. Antoine Cegna as well. He's probably the only guy after that disastrous end to the blue season who can really kind of hold his head high.
And Xavier Noumea is a guy who we've kind of presumed was going to be in the All Blacks at some point for the last like four years. So really no complaints or discussion around any of those guys, I think. But the one that does stick out is the selection of Kyle Preston at halfback.
And I know it's a very New Zealand rugby thing to be quibbling about what's probably going to end up being the third halfback in the squad. But We all presumed Noah Hotham was going to be in that spot, and they picked the guy who was sitting on the bench behind him. Colt Prison didn't even start a game in Super Rugby, not even that last round game that they had against the Crusaders.
Sorry, against the Hurricanes. That was a meaningless match. So Dave Rooney's probably made his mind up on this quite a while ago. And he mentioned when he talked to us before that it was about the speed of getting to the ruck. That's what he's been most impressed by Kyle Preston's ability to do. And that is something that he talked to us about earlier in the MRD, if you remember.
that off the record that we had, that was the most important thing. So at least it does line up with his selection logic. And of course, Kyle Preston did play in the All Blacks last year as well. So it's not like some sort of complete bolter out of the blue here. That to me is probably the biggest talking point out of this. And you mentioned Artie Savia as well.
Again, no big surprise with Scott Barrett being out. Artie Savia kept in the team, I think it was five times anyway last year. It was confirmed, though, by Dave Rennie before that this was likely to happen anyway.
That's the biggest talking point, I think, out of the discussion about Adi Sarvia, that even if Scott Barrett was fit, we would have been having Adi walk up on the stage as captain, which he's just done. He's about to host his first press conference as full-time captain in just a few minutes.
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Chapter 7: What insights does Jamie provide from the squad announcement location?
Yeah. They've really said that it wasn't for him to comment on that. It's for other people to sort out. So this is going to be an ongoing saga. He's going to be up pretty soon. He's going to talk about it. We'll make sure we get the latest on that and get it back to you as well. But as far as we know, it's business as usual in terms of his contract situation.
So if there's any Newcastle Red Bulls fans watching, yeah, you've still got a winger on the way at the end of the season.
Jamie, there were four players listed as being not considered because of injury. They are Scott Barrett, Lester Fainga-Anuku, Fabian Holland and Tamaiti Williams. Will Jordan is one player in the team who is not expected to be considered. fit probably for the first test. He's on his way back and of course Wallace Satiti is another one who had that concussion.
I think Tupova is another one who might be under an injury cloud. Is there any talk of backup players that might come in just in the interim to cover those positions or will they do that from within the squad do you think?
Yeah, so Jamie Hanna's been named as cover for Tupo Vai, who had that nasty knock on Saturday night. So there is a potential that Tupo Vai may miss that first test. Again, Jamie Hanna's a guy who's been in the All Black conversation all along this season, so no massive surprises if he does end up suiting up for that first game.
Yeah, there will be players involved over the next couple of weeks who will provide information probably cover and get up to speed and it will be the guys who will end up being part of that tour to South Africa and we've seen it happen in the past we've seen guys come in as injury cover I mean most notably when Shea Fihaki ended up
in the training squad caused a bit of a minor stir about whether he was actually going to play or not a couple of years ago. So, yes, there will be guys coming in, but I don't think we're going to know who they are until the team bus rolls up for that first training when the team assembles on Wednesday.
One other position that interests me was the midfield backs. Now, obviously, Geordie Barrett and Quintu Pai have been outstanding. Billy Proctor, obviously, they want to see more from him in an all-black jersey. Anton Leonard-Brown. comes in now. Anton Leonard-Brown coming back off sabbatical. Presumably Dave Rennie's been watching a lot of him playing as well.
The fan favourite, Jimmy the Difference, Timothy Tavatava-Nawai, misses out. Rico Ioane, who's been playing really well for Leinster towards the end of the season. He's been scoring tries, mainly as a left winger. And David Havili, who made a bit of a late bid, although he was on the receiving end like most of his teammates. Didn't really feature in that semi-final match, but
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Chapter 8: How do the hosts assess the overall strength of the All Blacks squad?
But Anton Leonard Brown kind of feels like a bit of a forgotten man of all of this, that he is a guy who went off to Japan. People seem to have forgotten that he's actually on a sabbatical where he didn't just sign and go over there. You're absolutely right about his versatility, and there's also the experience factor. I mean, I think he's up to about 88 tests now.
And so I feel like that's the reason why Dave Rooney was asked about it before. And those were the two main things that he pointed out, that you couldn't really leave a guy like Anton Lena Brown out, given that he's just been around for so long. One thing that interests me is that they've listed Lester Whanganuku as being unavailable for selection.
So that obviously means he would have been selected. And so who in the team... was picked in place of him. I would probably say it's Josh Morby. I'd say Carter. Given... Oh, sorry, sorry. Leroy Carter would be the guy that's been picked in his place.
So, yeah, interesting one because Carter's kind of had a bit of a charmed life considering that he was coming off the bench for the Chiefs quite a while there during this season. So... Yeah, that's kind of the main takeaways from that side of aspect of the squad selection as to who's available and who's not. But yeah, but Anton Leonard-Brown was a guy who was like, oh yeah, of course.
Yeah, of course he comes back in. But you're right about Tavis Big Jim. As well, some people are going to be a little bit disappointed that he didn't make it, but I still feel that he's going to be playing a big role as the season progresses.
Yeah, and I think a lot of these players that we're talking about will come into consideration to South Africa. They'll want to take some new guys, and it'll be interesting to see who they are. There's a couple of young hookers. Obviously, Bell's had a bit of time, and there's a lot of excitement over Odenrein at the Blues.
Whether or not someone of Odenrein's comparative lack of experience, whether a South African, too, is the right place to chuck someone in. But I'd say with injuries, A lot of these players are probably going to get an opportunity. The ones that have missed out, they'll go to South Africa for sure. The loose forwards was another interesting one.
And again, Duplessis Kerefi, who's just had a fantastic season with the Hurricanes. He's just so adept at pilfering those crucial turnovers and key moments of games. He misses out. He's unlucky. I guess Anton Segner, you know, he's a bigger player. He's a very strong carrier into contact, and I think that's probably the reason why he's got the nod there.
Samipeni Finau, who was one of the very few, and you can count them on the fingers of two or three fingers, of Chiefs players who actually played well in the final, just got the feeling at the end of the game, and Martin, you were making the same comment, that he was terribly upset, almost looked like a player, well, this was my last dance, maybe he's going off somewhere else.
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