Ruben Love's injury has set the All Blacks back

The Ruben Love injury situation is disappointing on so many fronts.

First, we still don’t know if he’s any good. Bags of potential, sure, but a long, long way off being the finished article.

The longer Love played at first five-eighth for the All Blacks this season, the worse he got. That’s not necessarily a criticism, more a reflection of the unenviable job he had had of trying to combat the Springboks in South Africa.

Few first-fives shine behind a beaten pack and Love was no exception.

He lacked the poise and the accuracy the great playmakers possess but, again, that’s inevitable. Love is largely a Test rugby novice and the only place to learn is on the job.

And that’s the shame about the ankle issue that means we won’t see him again until next year. There’s no chance for him to develop, no way of knowing if his experience against South Africa was beneficial.

All in all, we’re none the wiser about whether he can guide the All Blacks through a Rugby World Cup campaign next year.

The whole thing’s made worse by the vacuum that’s been created.

If I’m looking at an ideal circumstance, it would be that Love was fit and available for the upcoming matches in Britain with Richie Mo’unga the experienced back-up on hand to finish matches when required.

Only, as we’ve clearly seen, age has wearied Mo’unga, along with years of semi-retirement in Japan. The calf strain is the classic old man injury and you’d have to harbour doubts about whether Mo’unga’s body will stand up to the training loads and test match intensity required of him now.

I think we’d all agree that was Plan A for the All Blacks at 10. Love, supported by Mo’unga, with Damian McKenzie to continue at fullback.

Plan B’s now been enacted and I get why All Blacks coach Dave Rennie is talking it up.

It might be by accident, rather than design, but McKenzie is now the first-choice first-five and Beauden Barrett the fullback.

Now, and I don’t want to shock anyone here, this is not a combination I have any faith in. I’m not sure anyone really does, otherwise Love wouldn’t have been playing nor Mo’unga brought back from Japan.

These are the cards Rennie’s been dealt, though, and he’s been at pains to speak positively about how well McKenzie and Barrett went against Australia and what he anticipates from them in the coming weeks.

Well, he’s hardly going to say they’re rubbish or makeshift. Rennie has to express – and instil – confidence in the pair because, realistically, they’re all he’s got right now.

From what we’ve seen so far, you can’t rely on Mo’unga to be fit every week and Will Jordan’s days as a fullback are over. Josh Jacomb’s on tour to gain more experience of the environment and, barring injuries, is hardly going to rocket to the top of the first-five rankings.

What worries me is that, even when Love’s fit again, there’ll be a belief that he hasn’t had enough time in the saddle to warrant being the starting world cup 10.

I was thinking about something Rennie said, after the All Blacks beat Australia 43-21 in Sydney, about not trying to beat the Springboks at their own game. He suggested freeflowing football, of the sort McKenzie inspired against the woeful Wallabies, was the way forward.

It took me back to 1995 and Laurie Mains’ plan to win that year’s World Cup.

Mains had Jonah Lomu, for starters, never mind Andrew Mehrtens, Walter Little and Frank Bunce.

More importantly, Craig Dowd, Sean Fitzpatrick, Olo Brown, Ian Jones and Robin Brooke were the tight-five, with Richard Loe providing propping cover off the bench.

These were men who could win their own scrum and lineout ball against the Springboks in a far more reliable fashion than Rennie’s team can.

Poisoned, or just outplayed, the 1995 All Blacks didn’t win their World Cup final, but they did go back to South Africa the following year and register a series win over the Springboks.

I really can’t emphasise enough that Barrett, McKenzie and Mo’unga have failed World Cup campaigns, a home series loss to Ireland and home and away defeats against Argentina on their resumes.

Love’s selection this season was recognition that something had to change. Retaining the Bledisloe Cup shouldn’t alter that.