All Blacks Dave Rennie will name the first squad of his tenure in Feilding this morning.
Rennie, who will name 34 players for the three Nations Championship tests in New Zealand in July, will also name a new captain because incumbent Scott Barrett is injured.
The anticipation of the squad naming has been heightened by the prospect of Rennie and his fellow selectors Graham Henry and Neil Barnes blooding uncapped players for the tests against France, Italy and Ireland.
If Barrett had been fit, he was no certainty to be asked to continue as captain. A new coach often coincides with a new skipper being appointed.
Rennie, having recently returned from Japan where he guided the Kobe Kobelco Steelers to the League One title, has already surrounded himself with several new assistants.
Former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga will be in charge of defence, ex-Scotland international Mike Blair will organise the attack, and Barnes has been appointed senior assistant coach and lineout expert.
Jason Ryan, who has been with the All Blacks since mid-2022, is the forwards coach
The squad naming is at 12pm today.
Source: stuff.co.nz
