Dave Rennie's first campaign as All Blacks coach rolls into its second week with an unusual dilemma: what to do when the schedule hands you your easiest fixture of the year. New Zealand host Italy at Wellington's Sky Stadium on Saturday, and the calls to empty the bench are already loud.
The All Blacks opened the Rennie era with a 34-32 win over France in Christchurch, a tight result that flattered neither the scoreline nor the new coach's nerves. Cam Roigard was the standout, and Rennie has made no secret of building through form rather than reputation.
"There is no doubt players have forced our hand as selectors through quality Super Rugby performances," Rennie said when naming his side for that opener. "We have selected an exciting blend of experience and youth, with a powerful bench that will add impact."
Against Italy — a side that lost to Japan earlier in the window — former World Cup-winning fly-half Stephen Donald wants Rennie to be ruthless with his rotation. "Italy is going to be the easiest game of the season, so we've got to play everyone in the squad this week," Donald said.
Donald would start uncapped duo Josh Moorby at full-back and Anton Segner in the back row, sparing frontliners for the tougher assignments ahead. "Anton Segner is starting for me. Luke Jacobson has a big workload — he doesn't need to go out against Italy or prove anything there, so Segner gets a crack," he said.
His logic is about the calendar as much as this weekend. "I just think if you don't play these boys now, when do you? We've got Ireland at Eden Park and then South Africa — when do you play them apart from a midweek game in South Africa?" Donald asked. He would keep Ruben Love at fly-half and reintroduce Beauden Barrett gradually: "Beaudy is going to get about 35 minutes at 10 this week for me."
The instinct to protect while blooding new players drew agreement from another former All Black. Mils Muliaina backed the plan to bring Barrett back off the bench rather than start him. "I would have Beauden in my team. He comes back in off the bench," Muliaina said. "I'm with Beaver — you give guys this opportunity."
The caution is not entirely misplaced. When someone suggested Italy should not be underestimated, Donald's retort was blunt: "They just lost to Japan."
Whether Rennie shares that appetite for wholesale change will become clear when he names his team. The wider context favours experimentation. All Blacks home Tests have sold out across the inaugural Nations Championship, giving Rennie a full house in Wellington and a low-risk stage to test his squad's depth before the schedule sharpens.
Beat Italy comfortably and the questions turn to whether the fringe men are ready for Ireland and South Africa. Stumble, and a rotation gamble becomes the story. Either way, Rennie's first month in charge is shaping up as an exercise in how much he trusts the players who forced their way in.
