New Zealand, as it has made clear in the last decade, has strong ambitions for All black people to crack the USA and become the most famous rugby brand in the world’s largest sports market.
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That’s why, or at least in part, the All Blacks have played five Tests there in the last 12 years and could be in Florida next year to play Argentina and back to the USA in 2028 for the Bledisloe match.
The All Blacks appear poised to break into the US – determined to capture even a fraction of a market that is measured in trillions, not billions. But for now, the more valuable international territory, as far as the All Blacks are concerned, is Great Britain. America is the future, but Great Britain represents the present.
Their huge portfolio of sponsors – the All Blacks have $145 million worth of sponsors who have paid an association of some description – want to see the team play in major stadiums and have TV exposure in a country of almost 70 million people.
More importantly in the UK, the All Blacks have a reputation as the world’s premier rugby force. It was in Great Britain, where the All Blacks have been coming since 1905, that the legend was partly built.
The All Blacks loom large in the UK sporting imagination. Not everyone in the UK would be able to find it New Zealand on the globe, but they would know the All Blacks and the connection to rugby excellence.
And that is why the coming month is so critical for the All Blacks. They face each other Nations Championship Tests against Scotland, Wales and England – games that come with three clear objectives.
The first is for the All Blacks to play with even more speed, precision, intensity and physicality to show that their running style under coach Dave Rennie can work against all players.
Rennie spent his time in the office getting to know the who’s who and exposing a large number of players to his systems and philosophies. To date, 52 players have featured for the All Blacks this year.
While most observers would say that the All Blacks under Rennie are significantly more cohesive, consistent and structured in 2026 than they ever were in 2025, that needs to be borne out by the results.
But it is clear that he wants the emphasis to shift for these final tests of the year and that the focus will be on driving standards, building greater cohesion and better game management.
The All Blacks are coming to Britain not to build their depth, but to show they are a serious rugby force and to build a fast-paced, high-skill game plan they believe can win them the World Cup.
There were flashes of their potential in the series against South Africa and the All Blacks took it to another level when they came back to win the Bledisloe Cup.
But the winning record under new manager Dave Rennie is just 66% – less than that of his predecessor Scott Robertson who was sacked earlier this year. And while most observers would say that the All Blacks under Rennie are significantly more cohesive, consistent and structured in 2026 than they ever were in 2025, that needs to be borne out by the results.
The new coach needs wins to support the feeling that the team is on a better trajectory than under Robertson and it wouldn’t hurt Rennie to pick up some silverware at the end of November to provide even more tangible proof that the All Blacks have remembered how to be All Blacks.
And there is one selection in particular that hints at how the All Blacks plan to take their game to the next level in Great Britain.
Reintroduction Leicester Fainga’anuku – listed as a loose forward – gives the All Blacks the capacity to firstly experiment with a 6-2 bench split and secondly to inject game-breaking talent off the bench in almost any position they choose.
That, of course, is because Fainga’anuku played Tests as a wing and center and is now considered ready for a trial as an international full-back.
“It’s not just putting someone in, he’s shown at Super level that he can do the job really well and the challenge for him has often been to get your head around all the details and maybe seven is not as challenging because the scheduling options and things are simpler,” Rennie said of the 27-year-old.
The inclusion of Chay Fihaki at outside back only confirms that he has leapfrogged Emoni Narawa, and that the coaches are putting more emphasis on wings with known aerial skills.
“It gives you a lot of flexibility, you can call the bench 5-3, but generally it’s 6-2 and he can definitely make an impact in all those spots.”
Game changing is a term that is overused, but that is exactly what Fainga’anuku is. He is exactly the type of player that every coach wants because he can get into a contest and tell him to roam wherever he wants and just get his hands on the ball.
He has incredible running power and is an aggressive forager and that combination can win games in the closing stages, and Fainga’unuku feels like he will fit perfectly into the All Blacks’ game plan and make a significant impact.
Other notable selections include the inclusion of Chay Fihaki at outside back, as this not only confirms that he has surpassed Emoni Narava, but also that the coaches are putting more emphasis on wings with known skills in the air.
And, Jamie Hannah’s advantage over his Canterbury Teammate Sam Darry demonstrates the qualities Rennie is trying to build in his pack.
“Obviously with Scooter (Scott Barrett) coming back and then the quality of the other locks we’ve got, we really like Jamie, good athlete, really good layout up front, runs the line well, but he’s got a bit of a dark side around carrying, clear, catching,” Rennie said.
The second goal of the tour is to return home as the inaugural Champions of the Nations Championship. So Rennie would finish the season with 10 wins from 13 Tests (77%) and the All Blacks would collect their first piece of silverware (excluding retention of the Bledisloe Cup) as they won the shortened Rugby Championship in 2023
There was a time between 2010 and 2019 when the All Blacks held almost every trophy they could and the rest of the world moaned that rugby was boring because New Zealand was too good.
There were some decisions during that (England) breakdown that will haunt the New Zealanders for years because they damaged the reputation of the All Blacks as the world’s great rugby thinkers.
The last six years have been a far cry from those days and the All Blacks need tangible markers and reminders to cement their reputation.
But the third goal of this visit to Great Britain is probably the most important: it is to erase the memory of what happened there last year.
In what would prove to be a three-week period that effectively led to Robertson’s sacking, the All Blacks fell apart for 25 minutes at Murrayfield – a period in which Scotland they were fleeing and would forever regret not being able to deliver the killing blow.
The All Blacks ran away with a tight win, but their weaknesses were exposed. A week later at Twickenham they again felt separated after half-time and England had the ruthlessness to exploit it.
There were some decisions during that meltdown that will haunt the New Zealanders for years because they tarnished the All Blacks’ reputation as the world’s great thinkers of rugby.
They had injured players on the field, but no whore, which meant there was no recognized goalkeeper or anyone to put in on the line. It was chaos, and given the importance of Great Britain to commercial aspirations and the need for the All Blacks to be respected in that part of the world, Rennie is determined that last year must be an anomaly.
“One thing that excited me about this role was the chance to go to Africa and have a captive audience for seven weeks and learn a lot about the guys,” Rennie said.
“We’re in a good position in terms of understanding all the layers within the players across the country and if you look at it, the NPC was a brilliant competition and there are more players coming out there, so it’s not like the group that goes to the UK is going to go to the World Cup for sure.
“I think we might take 33 to the World Cup. We would use about 50 players at this stage, so there will be a shortage of good players.”