mens
international
The All black people there will be no services Hurricanes playmaker Ruben Love for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup Tests against an informed Wallabies side, who travel to New Zealand on the back of an impressive win over the Springboks.
Love started the first six Tests of the international season under Dave Rennie, who showed huge confidence in the young first five, having not previously featured in the first five for the All Blacks.
Even with Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’ung, Damian McKenzie and Josh Jacomb around for the three Tests against the South Africa-based Springboks, Rennie and the selectors continued to opt for Love.
But going into the first test against the Wallabies on Saturday, October 10 at Eden Park, it seems likely that either Mo’unga or Jacomb will start the test at number 10, with Barrett listed at outside back.
When asked about the severity of Love’s injury, Rennie explained that it was the same ankle that had the Hurricanes first five during the 2026 season. Super Rugby Pacific season.
“Yeah, well, I mean, it was only confirmed yesterday, the fact that he’s not going to be available. He’s kind of nursed that through Super Rugby a bit. He’s tough, Reuben.”
“He probably struggled a little bit in Africa, but while he was getting a little medical help, he wouldn’t talk about it much, so yeah, it’s certainly serious enough that he’s not available.
“He can probably run at 70%, but that’s not great for him, or for us. So we can’t put a time frame on that yet, and that will become clearer over the next week.”
Rennie also confirmed that All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea, who missed the fourth test against the Springboks, will be available after recovering from a minor knee injury.
“Yes, no, Quinn is ready to play. We thought he was playing a little bit of football for Waikato on weekends, but yeah, he’ll be fine.”
