Every good heist movie has the same scene: the boss realises the job is bigger than expected, so he goes and rounds up the old crew, the ones with the specific skills and the unfinished business. Dave Rennie just filmed that scene. Staring down the barrel of what he himself calls the toughest tour in rugby, he's phoned around and pulled seven familiar faces back into the fold, headlined by an 88-Test back returning from a season sipping Guinness in Dublin and a giant lock returning from a year of watching rugby with his arm in a sling.
Rieko Ioane comes home with an Irish tan
Rieko Ioane spent a sabbatical at Leinster — a lovely, civilised, rainy little working holiday — and now he's been yanked straight back onto the most hostile road trip on the planet. Eighty-eight Test caps of experience, freshly topped up with a season of Irish forensic detail, walking back into the black jersey just in time to point it at the world champions. It's a canny recall: you want your most battle-hardened operator for a tour like this, and Ioane's timing — back from abroad, legs fresh, point to prove — is exactly what Rennie ordered.
Fabian Holland reclaims a season the injury gods stole
Then there's Fabian Holland, who missed the ENTIRE Super Rugby season after dislocating his shoulder — a full year of rehab, of watching from the couch, of doing that thing where you flinch every time someone on TV goes into a tackle. And his reward for all those lonely months of resistance bands? A tour of South Africa, at altitude, against a pack that eats looseheads for breakfast. Welcome back, big man. We hope the shoulder's bolted on tight, because the Bulls at Loftus don't do gentle reintroductions.
And here's the bit South Africans are quietly relishing: before Rennie's reassembled crew even gets a sniff of the Springboks, they have to survive the warm-up acts. Stormers in Cape Town on the 7th, Sharks in Durban on the 11th, Bulls at Loftus on the 15th — three franchises who'd love nothing more than to rough up the tourists before the grown-ups arrive. Rennie's called the ringers back for the big job. The only problem is he's got to get them through three South African bouncers at the door before the main event on the 22nd even lets him in.