Dave Rennie has picked 44 players for a tour he is openly calling the hardest in the sport. The All Blacks squad named on Monday for the inaugural Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series retains all 34 players from the Nations Championship Southern Series group and adds ten more - eight matches in six weeks, including a four-Test series against the Springboks.
Rennie, working alongside fellow selectors Sir Graham Henry and Neil Barnes, named three uncapped players: Hurricanes prop Siale Lauaki, Moana Pasifika loose forward Semisi Tupou Ta'eiloa and Chiefs first five-eighth Josh Jacomb. Ollie Norris, George Bell, Fabian Holland, Ethan Blackadder, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Rieko Ioane and Emoni Narawa all return after missing the July window. Tamaiti Williams, Scott Barrett and Leicester Fainga'anuku are out injured.
"This tour will challenge us and demand the very best of us. We have selected a squad that we know is up to the challenge," Rennie said. "It's a balanced blend of experienced Test players and a cohort of younger players who will be keen to work hard and showcase their skillset on tour."
He was blunt about the scale of it. "With eight matches in six weeks, including a four-Test series against the Springboks, this would have to be the toughest tour in rugby. Every player will be required to play their part across this tour, whether it's preparing to play or helping their mates prepare."
Rennie also framed the trip as a Rugby World Cup building block rather than an end in itself. "It will be an intense seven weeks of touring but an excellent opportunity for us to pit ourselves against the current benchmark team in world rugby, and to build connections with each other in a way that only a tour of this scale can do. What we learn about ourselves on and off-field will set us up well for the Rugby World Cup in 2027."
The most striking selection call is about a player who is in the squad. Ardie Savea remains captain but will not travel for the opening franchise fixtures.
"Ardie has carried a massive workload in the last couple of years and we think it is best for him to have an extended break so he can come back ready to lead us into the Test series," Rennie said. "The franchise games will provide an opportunity for other leaders in the group to step in as captain, before Ardie Savea arrives in South Africa ahead of the first Test match. We have a number of excellent leaders in our squad who will embrace the chance to captain the side."
Not every judgement has been waved through. Writing for RugbyPass, Ned Lester identified Du'Plessis Kirifi's omission as the selection fans keep returning to - the Hurricanes co-captain having just led his side to a dominant Super Rugby Pacific final win months after a first season in black.
Lester also flagged the halfback maths as a genuine risk. Taking only three specialist nines on a 44-man tour means Cortez Ratima and Kyle Preston, both light on minutes in July, face heavy back-to-back workloads. Rennie has acknowledged Noah Hotham was the "obvious choice" had they gone to a fourth halfback, and described Leroy Carter as a "genuine option" to cover the position from the bench instead.
The four-fly-half call is the other curiosity. With Ruben Love, Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett already competing for minutes, Jacomb's inclusion looks less like a No.10 signing than a signal - Lester argues it makes an injury-driven recall for Richie Mo'unga considerably less likely, with the selectors instead investing in Jacomb as a project. Rennie has said he will treat Jacomb as an option at both 10 and 15.
Planet Rugby's read of the squad was that Rennie has deliberately bulked up for a physical series rather than reshaped his side. The second row remains the least settled area of the team: Tupou Vaa'i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Sam Darry and the returning Fabian Holland - the reigning World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year - are five starting-calibre locks with no established pairing between them after an injury-scrambled July.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Lancaster pitched the tour as a revival of something the professional era had discarded.
"This is the next chapter in one of our sport's defining rivalries. It is our first full-scale, old-style tour in 30 years - since 'The Incomparables' led by Sean Fitzpatrick pulled off the All Blacks' first series win in South Africa in 1996," Lancaster said. "Fans from both nations and around the world have embraced the concept with around 3,000 fans expected to travel for the tour - the majority from New Zealand."
The All Blacks open against the Stormers in Cape Town on 8 August (NZST), then face the Sharks in Durban and the Bulls in Pretoria. The first Test is at Ellis Park on 22 August, with a midweek game against the Lions at the same ground three days later. Tests two and three follow at DHL Stadium and FNB Stadium, before both squads travel to Baltimore, Maryland, for the fourth Test - the first meeting between the sides on United States soil.
