Rennie named his first squad last week, which features four uncapped players in Fehi Fineanganofo, Josh Moorby, Xavier Numia and Anton Segner, while Ardie Savea is the new captain.
The inaugural Nations Championship sees the Southern and Northern Hemispheres square off every two years in a 12-team, two-pool tournament format, featuring the Six Nations, the four Sanzaar nations, Japan and Fiji.
All Blacks v France history
Played – 67
All Blacks won – 51
France won – 15
Draws – 1
All Blacks points scored – 1781
France points scored – 961
France tests in Christchurch
1961 – All Blacks 32 France 3
1968 – All Blacks 12 France 9
1979 – All Blacks 23 France 9
1984 – All Blacks 10 France 9
1986 – All Blacks 18 France 9
1987 – France 20 Scotland 20
1989 – All Blacks 25 France 17
1994 – France 22 All Blacks 8
2003 – All Blacks 31 France 23
2013 – All Blacks 30 France 0
All Blacks v France line-ups
All Blacks side: To be named Thursday, 12pm
France side: TBC
Form guide (past five tests)
All Blacks:
France:
Beat England 48-46
Lost to Scotland 50-40
Beat Italy 33-8
Beat Wales 54-12
Beat Ireland 36-14
All Blacks v France referee
Englishman Luke Pearce is in charge of the test with Christophe Ridley and Katsuki Furuse as the assistant referees. Pearce has refereed six All Blacks matches before, including a famous 35-23 victory over the Springboks under Ian Foster. His only All Blacks-France clash was in 2018 at Eden Park when the home side won 52-11.
All Blacks v France TAB odds
All Blacks $1.20, France $4.20
All Blacks 1-12 $2.90
All Blacks 13+ $1.92
Draw $26
France 1-12 $5.75
France +13 $12
All Blacks v France – how to follow the action
For live commentary of All Blacks v France, join Elliott Smith on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio.
Plus, The Alternative Commentary Collective will be providing commentary on their iHeartRadio stream.
You can watch the game on Sky Sport 1 and it will be livestreaming on Sky Sport Now.
You can also find live updates at nzherald.co.nz.