WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Head coach Dave Rennie has backed rookie flyhalf Ruben Love by naming him to start in New Zealand's Nations Championship test against Ireland on Saturday, a match which will be the All Blacks' sternest test of the year to date.
Once again, Rennie has omitted 145-test veteran and World Cup-winner Beauden Barrett from his matchday 23.
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New Zealand's Josh Moorby fends off a defender during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
Juan Ignacio Brex, centre, of Italy is tackled New Zealand's George Bower and Anton Segner during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Masanori Udagawa/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love sits on the sideline after he was given yellow card that was rescinded during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love kicks a conversion during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and France in Christchurch New Zealand, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Craig Butland/Photosport via AP)
Rennie has also kept confidence in winger Josh Moorby, who will start after making an impressive debut off the bench in the win over Italy last week. Backrower Anton Segner, who became the first player born in Germany to play for the All Blacks when he made his debut from the bench against Italy, is included on the bench again.
Rennie has handed veteran lock Patrick Tuipulotu his first start of the season and has moved Tupo Vaa'i, who played at lock against Italy, to the side of the scrum.
There are five changes to the starting 15 that beat Italy 47-17 last week, and nine changes to the 23 that beat France 34-32 in the first round of the championship.
Ireland and New Zealand are unbeaten after two rounds of the Nations Championship.
New Zealand will be attempting to defend a 52-test, 32-year unbeaten record at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.
“Ireland has been one of the best sides in the world for a number of years now,” Rennie said. “They are very experienced and well-coached and will have belief on the back of their recent success here. We are well aware of the challenge they pose.
“We have selected a strong team that allows some of the combinations we have tested to continue building, and rewards players who have impressed over the last two rounds.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell made nine changes to the lineup that beat Japan 36-20 last week, restoring his side to full strength.
Rob Boloucoune returns on the right wing after missing Ireland's wins over Japan and Australia because of a hamstring injury. Center Garry Ringrose, flyhalf Sam Prendergast, fullback Hugo Keenan, scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, backrower Josh van der Flier, lock Joe McCarthy, hooker and captain Dan Sheehan and prop Tadhg Furlong also are back in the starting lineup after missing last week.
Six players remain from the win over Japan, while 13 remain from the team that beat Australia 33-21.
Rennie has boosted the All Blacks bench by name winger Caleb Clarke and backrower Peter Lakai, who both started against France, among the reserves on Saturday.
“We know how important our bench will be against a team as tenacious as Ireland, so have selected players who we know are capable of making an impact and influencing the course of the game,” Rennie said.
Wingers Fehi Fineanganofo and Leroy Carter both were unavailable for the All Blacks because of shoulder injuries, hastening Moorby's promotion to the starting side.
Tyrel Lomax again has been favored at tighthead prop over Fletcher Newell.
Lineups:
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby, Ruben Love, Cam Roigard; Ardie Savea (captain), Luke Jacobson, Tupou Vaa'i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Fletcher Newell, Anton Segner, Peter Lakai, Cortez Ratima, Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Rob Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O'Brien, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan (captain), Tom O'Toole. Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Thomas Clarkson, Nick Timoney, Sean Jansen, Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley, Bundee Aki.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
New Zealand's Josh Moorby fends off a defender during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
Juan Ignacio Brex, centre, of Italy is tackled New Zealand's George Bower and Anton Segner during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Masanori Udagawa/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love sits on the sideline after he was given yellow card that was rescinded during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love kicks a conversion during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and France in Christchurch New Zealand, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Craig Butland/Photosport via AP)
MASAFER YATTA, West Bank (AP) — The blue-and-white Israeli flags flutter from hilltops and line the roads of the occupied West Bank, signaling the growing presence of Israeli settlements and the outposts they’re building on Palestinian land.
For shepherds in the Jordan Valley, as well as in Masafer Yatta, a cluster of villages in the southern West Bank, the flags and expanding settlements have become inescapable features of the landscape, reminders of how daily life has narrowed.
Thiab Draghme and his brother, Ayman, led their flock across the dry hills of the Jordan Valley, returning to their community after searching for grazing land. Their route is carefully chosen. Some pastures are no longer considered safe because of increasing attacks by settlers. Others can be reached only with Israeli activists walking alongside them, documenting their encounters with settlers and Israeli troops and providing what they call a protective presence.
Shepherding has changed little over generations. The risks surrounding it have.
“We are people of generosity and hospitality,” said Thiab, a father of eight. “We want to live in peace.”
He said his children have grown up surrounded by Israeli demolitions, displacement and uncertainty. “What kind of future is that for a child?”
Not far away, Youssef Moussa Shinaran, 52, says he has not been able to harvest olives from his land since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023. “You’re not allowed to move around. The house has become a prison,” said Shinaran, who lives near Susya in the southern West Bank.
According to the U.N. humanitarian agency, settler attacks have increased sharply in 2026. Between January and April, the agency recorded 761 attacks linked to Israeli settlers and nearly 2,000 people displaced by violence and access restrictions. Entire communities have found themselves increasingly isolated as new outposts expand across the surrounding hills.
The pressure extends well beyond confrontations between settlers and Palestinians.
One morning, a dispute over a brush fire brought settlers, Palestinians, soldiers and police to a hillside. After settlers accused Palestinians of starting the blaze, one Palestinian and one Israeli activist were detained before being released later that day.
The expansion of the settlements and accompanying violence has forced many Palestinian families to alter their routines. Like the Draghme brothers, some shepherds no longer graze where they once did. Others have sold their flocks after deciding the risk had become too great.
Near the village of Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, Shoma Kaabneh’s family sold all their sheep after an Israeli outpost was built close to their home. Her husband now works in construction, earning far less than they once made selling dairy products.
In another community in the northern Jordan Valley, a Palestinian family leaves an Israeli flag that settlers planted near their sheep pen. They say removing it could provoke retaliation from settlers or soldiers.
As evening fell over the Masafer Yatta region, men gathered to pray outside homes. Nearby, settlers rode quad bikes before returning to an outpost a few hundred meters away.
Residents organize night watches, taking turns staying awake to warn neighbors if Israeli settlers approach.
Each day begins much like the last: Sheep are led into the hills. Children play between tents and homes. Families tend to their animals, repair fences and prepare meals under a horizon increasingly dominated by Israeli construction that seeks to push them away.
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
Israeli flags are seen lining a road in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
After Israeli soldiers told them to remain by the fence, Palestinians and an Israeli activist sit watching as settlers arrive in a vehicle after the settlers accused a local Palestinian resident of setting fire to a field, near the West Bank village of Susya in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Hamoudi, 10, washes his face as he gives water to his family's sheep at a Palestinian community in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian shepherd leads his flock of sheep as they move away from his family compound in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A herd of sheep graze on a hill as the sun rises over a Palestinian community in the northern Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Yasser, 8, looks at the camera after taking a nap in the morning outside his house in a Palestinian community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ahmad, 15, drinks water after being stopped by Israeli soldiers while grazing his flock near his community in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israeli activist records the presence of a settler as he moves with his donkey in front of a Palestinian house on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Taybeh, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian uses a flashlight as he takes part in a night watch to warn neighbors if Israeli settlers approach his community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026.. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israeli flag, set up by settlers, waves beside a fence around a Palestinian compound's sheep pen at dusk in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israeli settler outpost, top right, overlooks a Palestinian compound at dusk in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinians sit next to a fire as they take part in a night watch to warn neighbors if Israeli settlers approach their community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026.. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A blindfolded Palestinian is detained by Israeli soldiers after being accused by Israeli settlers of setting a field on fire near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers stand next to an activist and sheep after stopping a young Palestinian man who was grazing his flock near his community in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian shepherd Ayman Draghme leads his flock back to his family's community in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Youssef Moussa Shinaran, looks down as he talks about settlers attacks in his community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. "You're not allowed to move around. The house has become a prison," says the 52-year-old Palestinian. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli activists along with Palestinians from a local community observe the movement of settlers near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian children play outside their houses in a community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Saber, 32, bottle feeds a lamb in his community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Thalib prays along with other Palestinian men at dusk in their community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli settlers stand together as they wait for the arrival of police after accusing Palestinians of setting a field on fire near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Thursday, June 18, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An Israeli settler steps into the courtyard of a home as another stands next to the fence, trespassing on Palestinian property on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Taybeh, Thursday, June 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian girls watch Israeli settlers riding a quad bike past their community near the West Bank village of Susya, in the Masafer Yatta region, Wednesday, June 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian shepherd Thiab Draghme leads his flock of sheep and goats past an Israeli flag placed on a road in the northern Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
