Long-time New Zealand rugby commentator Tony Johnson has urged Dave Rennie's All Blacks selectors to keep their first squad of 2026 refreshingly simple: pick whoever is doing the work in Super Rugby Pacific right now.
Stepping in for John Daniell on the DSPN Super Rugby Pacific Roundup to dissect Round 13, Johnson set out his selection philosophy in one line: "This is the way that All Blacks selectors should approach Super Rugby — just simply pick the guy scoring the most tries and making the most metres when they get the ball."
With Sir Graham Henry now sitting in as an independent selector and Rennie publicly stressing he is "not interested in flashy highlight play", Johnson's panel insisted there were several Super Rugby names whose form makes the call obvious.
Quinn Tupaea: the anchor in the Chiefs' defence
The Chiefs centre's relentless work in his own 22 is, Johnson argued, the kind of contribution that wins Test matches.
"They have this ability that when the opposition is putting heat on inside their own 22, they'll just keep making tackles until someone — and quite often it's Quinn Tupaea — will make that vital steal," he said.
Quinn Tupaea's defensive numbers in the Chiefs' bonus-point win over the Highlanders in Hamilton — a 40-12 result that also produced tries for Tetera Faulkner, Toki Alaho, Rowan McAlister and Brad Weber — were referenced as evidence the midfielder is operating at All Blacks level week in, week out.
George Bower writes his own headlines
The Crusaders' 100th-cap loosehead George Bower was the emotional story of Round 13 after scoring his first ever Super Rugby try in a sold-out Christchurch homecoming against the Blues.
"In terms of George Bower, it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke," Johnson said. "He's such a popular player, and if they cooked that up for him, well, that's just a measure of how well he is regarded. He's a delightful fellow — first ever All Black to come out of Tītī College in Wellington."
Bower's score, off a clearly rehearsed strike move inside the first 10 minutes, set the tone for what Johnson described as one of the Crusaders' sharpest attacking performances of the season. "The attack of the Crusaders was just that much sharper," he said. "In the end ball-in-hand, 507 metres compared to about 370 — that tells you something about the sharpness of the attack."
The forwards on the rise
Elsewhere in the panel, the in-form names kept coming. Johnson described Lester Fainga'anuku as a "weapon" off the bench, praised Tupou Vaa'i's eight turnovers against the Highlanders, and singled out the Chiefs' Simon Parker for "big dominant tackles" that should keep him firmly in the conversation for the loose-forward roster.
The panel also flagged the brutal blow of losing Highlanders bolter Caleb Tangitau to a suspected Achilles rupture, with Johnson lamenting that the wing "would have definitely been on Dave Rennie's shortlist" given his form in a team outside the playoff places.
A selection roundtable for a new era
The broader point of the show, Johnson said, was that Rennie is inheriting a Super Rugby competition that looks healthier than it has done in years — with crowds back in Christchurch, parity across the conference, and All Blacks contenders emerging weekly. The job for the new head coach and his expanded selection panel is to be brave enough to back the in-form Kiwi players rather than reach for reputation.
"A lot of the New Zealand teams threatening to pull the rug out from under each other or put dents in each other's hopes," Johnson said of the run-in. "If the form players are good enough to drag teams over the line in Super Rugby, they're good enough to wear the jersey."
