Ruben Love is “absolutely” the player Dave Rennie should pick at fly-half for his first Test in charge, according to All Blacks legend Christian Cullen.
The 25-year-old has impressed in the number 10 jersey for the Hurricanes in 2026, with the Wellington outfit residing at the top of the Super Rugby Pacific table.
Their attack has been outstanding throughout the campaign and Love has been the architect in the pivot position.
Although experienced and proven Test operators Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett will also be in contention when they begin the Nations Championship, Cullen wants to see the rising star given a go.
‘See what happens’
Asked on Sky Sport NZ whether Love is the player he would select to face France and beyond, the former full-back responded: “Absolutely, he is. Take him to South Africa and put him in there with the big dogs. See what happens.”
He added: “I think his option-taking in general is really good and when you’re outsides are scoring lots of tries then the insides are doing the work.”
Jeff Wilson agreed with Cullen and believes that the fact he plays alongside Cam Roigard and Jordie Barrett– the two favourites for the scrum-half and inside centre spots respectively – goes in his favour.
Hurricanes players could ultimately fill all the positions from nine to 13 with Billy Proctor also playing some outstanding rugby at the moment.
“It’s nice to have the fact that they’ve been in camp together, playing together for six months now and they’re going into play-off rugby together,” Wilson said on The Breakdown.
“I can’t argue with the fact that all of those players will be involved with the All Blacks.
“Ruben Love’s my guy at 10 right now, I want to see him get the opportunity.”
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Wilson would also have another of the fly-half options, McKenzie, in the XV but at full-back, claiming that they would dovetail nicely.
“I’ve got Damian McKenzie at full-back. Those two players for me, you combine them, their skill sets and the way that they’re playing the game right now, the confidence that they’re playing with,” he said.
“I seem them as the players Dave Rennie will inspire to play a brand of rugby that we haven’t played for a long time.”
Love’s improved control
Love has earned five caps for the All Blacks so far but they have all come at full-back thanks to his counter-attacking ability and creativity.
However, Test centurion Mils Muliaina insists that he has added the control to his game which will enable him to impress at fly-half at Test level.
“Ruben Love, this is the stuff he’s now starting to produce. We always knew that he could do that. The last three or four weeks since he’s been back, he has been controlling the game,” Muliaina said.
“It’s that maturity where he’s comfortable with what he’s doing, but he’s also got guys around him that are prepared to step up when he’s not there.”
Wilson and Muliaina were joined on the panel by ex-All Blacks fly-half Stephen Donald, who admits that it is difficult to see a weakness in Love’s game at the moment.
“It’s tough to find a fault. Every week he is going out there and putting all this on the park for the best rugby team,” Donald said.
“Yes, I can’t go away from the fact that there’s going to be two or three massive weeks in Ruben’s development but, at the moment, you can’t question what he’s putting out there.”
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