Rennie backs Lienert-Brown's experience over Tavatavanawai for Wales Test in Cardiff

Dave Rennie has named Anton Lienert-Brown to start at centre for the All Blacks against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, with the experienced midfielder preferred over Highlanders man Timoci Tavatavanawai after Jordie Barrett was ruled out with a concussion sustained against Scotland at Murrayfield.

Lienert-Brown will partner Quinn Tupaea in midfield — a combination Rennie has leaned on throughout his tenure. Tupaea himself only recently returned from a concussion picked up in the opening minute of the second Bledisloe Cup Test against the Wallabies in Sydney, having come back for the Nations Championship opener against Scotland alongside Barrett.

Speaking at the All Blacks’ Cardiff hotel, Rennie was direct about why he turned to Lienert-Brown rather than Tavatavanawai, who featured in the last two Tests. “Quinn gives us continuity, and Anton’s got a huge amount of experience,” Rennie said. “Those guys have played a lot of footy together. Timoci got his crack last week. It was a short amount of time in the end, but yeah, we got a lot of confidence in Anton, and I’ve coached him in a lot of games in multiple countries, so rate him highly. I think his experience, his communication, and his work ethic will be really important for us.”

Rieko Ioane retains his place and is set to earn his 93rd Test cap on the wing, while seven players who started against Scotland keep their spots, giving Rennie’s side a degree of continuity despite several changes to both the starting XV and the bench.

Rennie framed the selection philosophy around building depth without sacrificing the experience needed to handle pressure moments. “We’ve got a lot of competition for places, and there’s a number of positions where there’s not a lot of difference, and so we’ve put a lot of emphasis on creating depth,” he said. “We’re confident that the guys who’ve been given an opportunity will bar up and apply pressure on us for selection the following week. It’s a good blend.”

Josh Jacomb, Saula Ma’u, and Chay Fihaki, who were all absent from the matchday squad against Scotland, look increasingly unlikely to feature during the four-Test tour. Rennie acknowledged the decision was driven by a desire to have sufficient experience available should Wales put the All Blacks under sustained pressure. “We just decided in the end it will give us a little bit more experience. If we got under pressure with so many guys lacking experience, it could put us under a bit of pressure,” he said.