Former All Blacks star Justin Marshall has urged Dave Rennie not to experiment for the upcoming Nations Championship fixtures.

New Zealand take on Scotland, Wales and England in their remaining round-robin games before they have a fourth match on finals weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

That will be a heavy workload for those players but Marshall still believes that consistency in selection is needed for the November fixtures.

“I don’t see them buttoning off at all, I don’t see any point of us having a revolving door,” the ex-scrum-half said on the GBRANZ podcast.

Kieran Read’s response

Marshall was joined on the show by fellow All Blacks legend Kieran Read, who believes that Rennie is more likely to rotate but states the players are capable of doing four in a row.

“It’s four Tests in a row, the boys have done that, and it’s not four South Africa Tests in a row. I don’t mind it, but they will look to give guys an opportunity in the squad,” Read said. “I get your understanding.”

Given the strength of Scotland and England, most expect the All Blacks to put out their best side for those games before also going fully-loaded for the final match of the year.

However, in between the trips to Murrayfield and Twickenham, New Zealand face Wales in Cardiff, a team that has struggled since the 2023 Rugby World Cup. That clash potentially offers a chance for the tourists to experiment, but Marshall explained why he is against that idea.

“I just don’t feel we’re quite there yet as a team and messing around with selection compromises that and the way to do it is off the bench; to give guys minutes,” he said.

Another important factor in Marshall’s thinking is the All Blacks’ need to not just secure three more round-robin victories but to do it in style.

They claimed three successive triumphs in July but still sit behind the Springboks in the table. If New Zealand want to finish first and have a shot at winning the competition, they may have to rack up the tries.

All Blacks may need big wins

“It’s not just the winning because you’ve got to accumulate these bonus-points. You can’t be buttoning off in any of these games,” the 53-year-old said. “The All Blacks are at the moment behind South Africa because of the points differential, so they need to find some points.”

New Zealand come into the northern leg of the Nations Championship off the back of a 2-0 triumph over the Wallabies in the Bledisloe Cup.

They were two impressive performances for the most part but both Marshall and Rennie were disappointed by the latter stages of the second Test in Sydney, which told the ex-scrum-half that the players need more time together.

“This is why I’m stressing about if they’re going to make, and I don’t think they should make, wholesale changes for any of the games – they should try to get some consistency,” he said.

“Dave Rennie wasn’t happy coming out of that second Test. For all that tempo, all that pre- and post-contact, off-loading at speed, the physicality was there, he felt the Chay Fihaki moment, where he miss-kicked the ball and it was a genuine line break, from that point on, the All Blacks went off the boil. He was seeing 70, mate.”