Anton Segner had the sort of night that normally ends a selection argument. Thirteen tackles, 12 carries, two turnovers, man of the match in a 50-19 win at altitude.
Ross Karl does not think it gets him into the team.
Speaking on For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa alongside Steven Kitshoff and Ben Youngs, the New Zealand broadcaster said Anton Segner is not in contention to start against the Springboks at Ellis Park and is fighting for a seat among the replacements. Which sounds harsh until you look at who is ahead of him.
What Anton Segner actually did at Loftus
Kitshoff was the more enthusiastic of the two, which is worth something from a man who spent a career looking at flankers from three feet away.
His point was that the numbers undersell it. Segner was used as an extra man in the wide channel for the opening try, which is not a normal job for a 7. He worked off the back of the maul. He was a pest at the breakdown for the full 80 minutes, and 80 minutes in Pretoria is its own kind of achievement.
Youngs, watching as a neutral, called him a flanker bursting into the scene. The Blues back-rower has been building towards this for two seasons in Super Rugby.
The queue in front of him
New Zealand’s loose forwards are the deepest part of a squad that is not thin anywhere.
Ardie Savea is the tour captain. Luke Jacobson has a job in Dave Rennie‘s system that nobody else in the squad does, which is to get to the breakdown first and blow it up. Karl said Rennie used to call it napalming the breakdown when he was at the Chiefs. Wallace Sititi scored at Loftus and is the sort of carrying 8 this fixture tends to demand.
None of those three loses a shirt because someone had a good tour match.
Karl’s framing was that Anton Segner is not really competing with the starters. He is competing for one of a small number of forward seats on the bench, and how many of those exist is a decision Rennie has not made yet.
Which makes this a question about the bench split
Go 5-3 and a specialist openside is a luxury you cannot carry. Go 6-2 and the maths opens up.
Rennie has said he might trial a 6-2. He has not done it in three Tests. Karl reads it as 5-3, and that single call is the biggest reason he does not expect Anton Segner in the 23. It has almost nothing to do with the man of the match award.
There is a precedent pulling the other way. Against Ireland last month New Zealand carried two loose forwards among the replacements and started Tupou Vaa’i at 6, shifting him into the second row when the change came. Do that again and a seat appears.
The one thing Anton Segner offers that the others do not
He is a genuine lineout option. He has been a front-ball target for the Blues all season, and Karl described him as sneaky big, one of those players who does not look his size on television.
Against a side that will contest and steal, an extra jumper for the last 25 minutes is not nothing. That is the actual case for Anton Segner, and it has very little to do with what he did on Saturday.
Why the last 20 minutes decides it
Youngs framed the bench call as a genuine fork rather than a detail. Match South Africa‘s power with six forwards, or keep the playmakers on, go 5-3, and back yourself to open the game up in the final quarter at 1,750 metres.
You cannot do both. And you cannot be certain you will still be in the match to try the second one. Kitshoff’s reminder was that the Springboks’ last 20 minutes is the hardest passage in the sport, and the All Blacks have not yet had to survive it in this form.
That is the context every bench decision this week sits inside, including this one. It is also why the way New Zealand intend to attack the Springbok set piece and breakdown shapes who travels in the 23.
When the team is named
Rennie names his side on Thursday. Cam Roigard and Will Jordan are both carrying knocks, and wing Caleb Clarke is out of the tour entirely with a shoulder tendon injury that needs surgery. Damian McKenzie is the other doubt after turning an ankle against the Sharks.
If Anton Segner is in the 23 on Thursday, it will most likely be because Rennie went 6-2. That tells you more about how New Zealand intend to play the last 20 minutes than it does about one flanker’s night in Pretoria.
Fixtures and kick-off times are in our Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry hub.
Who is Anton Segner?
A flanker who plays for the Blues and came through the New Zealand age-grade system. He was named man of the match against the Vodacom Bulls on 15 August 2026, with 13 tackles, 12 carries and two turnovers won.
Whether he faces the Springboks comes down to one call. A 6-2 bench and he has a chance. A 5-3 and he watches from the stand.
Ross Karl, Steven Kitshoff and Ben Youngs were speaking on For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa on 16 August 2026. Match statistics via the All Blacks match report.
