New Zealand begin their 2026 with a clash against one of their biggest rivals, as France return to Aotearoa after a three-game series here last year. There was some controversy and disappointment in the lead-up to 2025’s series, as Fabien Galthié was forced to leave a slew of his first-string players at home due to the competing interests of their Top 14 clubs and it’s a similar situation again for the opening week of the July internationals.
Among a few significant changes heading into the July fixtures is a complete rehaul of the Southern Hemisphere’s internationals, with the Rugby Championship being scrapped in favour of the Nations Championship. The new tournament results in an extended competition between the Southern Hemisphere nations and the Northern Hemisphere nations, split between the usual July internationals and November internationals, with a finals week taking place in the last days of November.
It’s a new chapter of All Blacks rugby in 2026, with Dave Rennie coming in to lead the coaching staff after Scott Robertson was ousted early in the new year. Ardie Savea will captain the team under Rennie, whose last international coaching experience came with the Wallabies — a gig which he was sensationally sacked from shortly before the 2023 Rugby World Cup, to much disagreement across the ditch. Most recently, Rennie led the Kobe Steelers to a championship in the 2025-26 Japan Rugby League One, which is ideal preparation as he heads into his first run of games leading New Zealand.
There weren’t many surprises in the 34-man squad named by Rennie, with Xavier Numia, Anton Segner, Fehi Fineanganofo and Josh Moorby being the debutants and for Saturday’s 2026 opener, Numia and Fineanganofo are in line to get their debuts off the bench on Saturday. It’s a relatively experienced starting XV, featuring the likes of Ardie Savea, Codie Taylor, Damian McKenzie and Jordie Barrett, while Cam Roigard and Ruben Love bring the Hurricanes halves combo into the starting team. Josh Lord, Sam Darry and Peter Lakai for an inexperienced 4-5-6 trio but there is significant experience in the rest of the pack, as well as a combined 104 Tests of experience on the bench between Tyrel Lomax and Patrick Tuipulotu.
France made it consecutive Six Nations championships earlier in 2026, as they edged out Ireland to claim the crown in a thrilling final round, beating England at the death thanks to a Thomas Ramos penalty goal. Fast-flowing, attack-focused rugby was the theme of the French during the Six Nations campaign, averaging over 42 points per game as they aggressively looked to counter-attack and keep the ball in hand.
For Galthié and his Les Bleus squad, Maxime Lucu has been named as captain in the absence of star halfback Antoine Dupont, in what is unsurprisingly Bordeaux-heavy lineup. Matthieu Jalibert starts at first five-eighth and Damian Penaud is on the right wing of what is an exciting and athletic back three, with Max Spring and Théo Attissogbé at fullback and left wing, respectively. Yoram Moefana adds some experience at centre, but it is a very fresh forward pack in terms of Test caps, with props Jefferson Poirot and Demba Bamba being the only two with more than 15 caps in the starting pack. Australian-born lock Tom Staniforth is set to make his debut at lock, and there isn’t a heap of experience for Galthié to call apon off the bench either, with Mickaël Guillard and Nolann Le Garrec being the most established of the bunch.
We are set for plenty of high-flying action in this Nations Championship opener, with dry conditions guaranteed in Christchurch. The selections from both coaches indicate that they’re going to be up for plenty of running rugby and while that will come to hurt Les Bleus late in the piece, I am picking a high-scoring contest. There may be some early nerves from both teams, given the inexperienced players across both squads, but the game will come to life quickly and help us hit the over in a fireworks-filled contest.
Best
Over 58.5 ($1.87)
Value
Power Plays — New Zealand to Lead at Halftime by 1 – 10 & Win by 11 – 20 ($6.00)
Try Scorer
Cam Roigard ($13 First, $2.45 Anytime)
Same Game Multi
Cam Roigard Try / Damian Penaud Try / Peter Lakai Try ($17.68)