With the Greatest Rivalry series looming, Justin Marshall and Kieran Read are calling for Dave Rennie to use the Nations Championship windows against Italy and Ireland deliberately — building continuity and confidence rather than tinkering. Marshall's concern is straightforward: Rennie inherited a squad mid-cycle with minimal preparation time, new staff, and new systems, and the All Blacks simply don't have the runway to still be finding themselves when they land in South Africa. Read's angle is more structural — he identifies the Springboks, Ireland, and France as teams whose depth and pattern-based rugby lets them execute under pressure almost automatically, and argues the All Blacks can only close that gap through match experience, not training runs. The consensus from both is that the midweek URC warm-up games on tour won't be charity fixtures; South African sides will treat them as opportunities to physically wear the All Blacks down before the Test series even begins.