All Blacks' attack energised by new half-back pairing

08 Jul 2026, 17:00 by Ciarán Kennedy · The42

RUBEN LOVE’S FIRST Test start at 10 for the All Blacks got off an unfortunate start.

Just two minutes into Saturday’s blistering Nations Championship opener with France, Love was yellow-carded following a high shot on France fullback Max Spring.

Thankfully for the All Blacks, the incident didn’t knock the 25-year-old’s confidence, with Love coming back into the game to deliver an assured, bright performance in a 34-32 win.

Going by Saturday’s display, expect to see much more of Love in the New Zealand 10 shirt along what should be a competitive out-half battle leading into next year’s World Cup.

Love’s selection was one of the headline calls made by Dave Rennie for his first game as head coach, with the out-half rewarded for his fine season with the Hurricanes as the Wellington side landed their first Super Rugby title in a decade.

Love had been capped five times at Test level, with his two previous starts coming at fullback. It’s a position Love has filled plenty of times at club level, but over the 2026 season he locked down the Hurricanes 10 shirt, emerging as the coming man at out-half as the New Zealand Tests approached.

And Rennie used the opening fixture against France to give Love his first run pulling the strings for the All Blacks.

An impressive outing was no doubt helped by the presence of Hurricanes teammates Cam Roigard and Jordie Barrett at scrum-half and inside centre respectively, with the trio combining well in Christchurch.

It was a combination that suited New Zealand’s tactical approach, which focused on high-tempo attacking play through the hands, a shift away from the more conservative gameplan and selections which frustrated All Blacks fans during Scott Robertson’s time in charge.

After that early yellow-card, Love helped New Zealand flip a 10-5 deficit into a 19-13 half-time lead.

At athletic, lively out-half, Love was expected to add energy to the backline, and he used his pace to good effect.

This sharp acceleration, step and offload got New Zealand attacking off kick return, Love finding the gap by targeting French forwards.

Minutes later, another burst of speed had Love breaking through the France defence again.

And when France went to their kicking game, Love enjoyed a good battle with France fullback Spring.

With ball-in-hand, his distribution was excellent, while the presence of Barrett at 12 and Damien McKenzie at 15 allowed the three rotate as first receiver in a fluid attacking shape.

However, one of Love’s most impressive contributions came off the ball. Entering the final 10 minutes, he worked hard to team up with Billy Proctor for a huge counter-ruck which lead to Will Jordan scoring his second try of the night.

Love will take confidence from the outing and aim to show more of his creative spark over the coming weeks.

He forms a nice partnership with scrum-half Roigard, a relatively tall, physical nine who stands at 6ft and just under 90kgs.

Despite that physical presence, he offers many of the traits associated with shorter, chippier nines. Roigard is sharp on his feet and has the ability to step his way out of tight spaces.

And like all the best scrum-halves, he’s opportunistic in the opposition’s 22 – as evidenced in his snipe to score New Zealand’s second try, shaping to pass before darting over.

The Hurricanes man was the official player of the match in Christchurch, dictating much of the play and supplying two of New Zealand’s five tries. For his second, Roigard was key to keeping New Zealand attacking at speed before running the support line to finish the move.

Roigard is always looking to attack space, adding another layer of unpredictability to New Zealand’s attack. At times he shaped to kick, only to pass with the hands. On other occasions he looked set to pass only to instead run the ball himself.