5 All Blacks Changes Dave Rennie MUST make for Bulls match

So far on their tour of South Africa, the All Blacks stumbled to victory against the Stormers but got the win 38-21. Rennie's men then performed at a higher level for a longer period of time against the Sharks, in tougher conditions keeping them to nil, and scoring 54 points in response.

RUCK takes a look at the All Blacks who maybe didn't do themselves too much justice against the Sharks, and also those who have put themselves in the hat to be in the starting XV this weekend.

This is a matter of injury consolidation for the flying Chiefs man. Although McKenzie looked impressive whilst he was on the pitch, the full-back seemed to have been struggling with a slight ankle knock early on. Whilst that didn't seem to impact him too much, he was withdrawn after just 33 minutes for Emoni Narawa, and McKenzie's health would be a worry for Dave Rennie ahead of the first test in Johannesburg.

Although they have Ruben Love who could deputise for him at full-back, the All Blacks would rather have the 25 year old in his natural position of fly-half where he impressed so much this season for the Hurricanes. Should McKenzie be ruled out of the incoming Bulls match and Test series with the Springboks, the quick fix for Dave Rennie would be to rotate Will Jordan from the wing to full-back, and implement a form finding Caleb Clarke along the starting touchline.

This is for the sake of resting a key player above anything else. The newly resigned Highlanders prop had a quiet evening around the park, yet certainly seemed impressive at scrum time against the formidable Vincent Koch. De Groot kept the tight-head prop quiet for the most part, and sis not allow him or the Sharks’ pack to get stuck into the All Blacks set piece or hand over field position. Whilst de Groot did give away one scrum penalty, he thankfully wasn’t made to pay for it.

Although the loose-head prop position doesn't have the strongest competition throughout the All Blacks ranks, Dave Rennie should unleash Ollie Norris against the Bulls on Saturday, and hand de Groot a rotation out of the side with the Springboks on the horizon.

Asafo Aumua came under plenty of pressure from the Sharks at line-out time, which could be a problem going forward into the Springboks series. Although it was a rough day in terms of conditions for all involved at the lineout, he would have expected himself to have performed at a far more consistent rate given his experience.

This could force coach Dave Rennie into making a decision on whether he retains the hooker to face the Bulls, especially with the likes of explosive debutant Bradley Slater and veteran hooker Codie Taylor jostling for the starting jersey. Taylor was rotated out of the pack last night, and Slater had a solid first outing in the black jersey from the bench, so the heat has certainly been dialed up Aumua to impress should he feature in Pretoria.

In what was the same story as the rest of his pack, Vaa'i did his job efficiently but didn't impact the game to an eye-catching level. Whilst he always looked lively, Vaa'i did not bring his usually destructive game-breaking tendancies to the fray, and has left the door ajar to lose his spot for the Bulls clash this weekend.

Anton Segner continues to wait patiently in the wings for an extended run in the back row, with the Blues man eager to build upon his Nations Championship debut and hit out against the Stormers. Segner will likely come into the fold to face the URC finalists should Rennie rest Vaa'i this weekend, in what is an opportune chance to make another solid statement for inclusion in the Springboks Test series.

Its time for Dave Rennie to unleash his captain, as Ardie Savea has yet to feature for the All Blacks since the tour began. This weekend poses arguably the toughest challenge out of the four club sides, as the Bulls bring a no-nonsense Springboks-esque brand of physicality that routinely takes them to the URC play-offs.

Whilst Wallace Sititi had his moments against the Sharks, its time for Savea to get his own warm-up in ahead of the Springboks series. Rennie can by all means rest Savea for the fourth and final warm-up match against the Lions, yet sending the number eight out against the Springboks without any minutes on tour may garner some unwanted ring rust. Rennie could well keep a form-finding Sititi amongst the replacements, with Peter Lakai expected to drop out the 23.