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international
All black people Head coach Dave Rennie believes his side must limit the Springboks’ play in the set-up phase by focusing on their game.
Rennie’s side produced another underwhelming performance in struggling Soweto, ultimately leading to a second successive defeat in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
Despite enjoying some success on his own ball, Rennie admitted the All Blacks had made mistakes on several other occasions.
But it’s the constant mistakes the 62-year-old head coach points to, where they give the Springboks the opportunity to play their strengths at certain times.
“Yeah, I mean, we could talk about scrums, but we’re going to have to be better,” Rennie said New Zealand to the media on Tuesday.
“They have a great scrum, they have a great maul, so our ability to stay in front of that maul is important. And when we did that, we limited their ability to hurt us and also at scrum time.”
“The easiest way is to limit those occurrences. So if we’re more accurate, there’s less friction and more continuity for us, and we don’t throw the ball away.”
“There are fewer outlets for them and the discipline comes into it. You can’t just make their strengths go away. But our job is to limit the amount of opportunities they get.”
“I think on our ball, the scrum was pretty solid. We made a big mistake on one, and then we got punished by one of their feeds, and look, that’s a weapon for them, and that’s a challenge.”
“We want high continuity. If you make a mistake, they go to a set. They get penalized for it. They march around the court, and so yeah, that’s still an area where we’re going to have to be better.”
Rather than dwell on asking questions, Rennie explained that if the All Blacks could become clinical in attack, the outcome in Soweto could be different.
“South Africa are very good at creating opportunities and taking advantage of their chances, so they scored under the post. It was a big moment in the game, and so we know that if we can do a few things a little better, limit their chances and be a little more clinical, the result could go the other way.
“But they’re a very good side, and they match up very well, and yes, I think the better side probably won in the end.”
Both sides traveled together to Washington, DC on the same plane from Johannesburg, allowing the players to interact outside the arena.
“I don’t know (if there was banter). Because we’re all kind of scattered among each other, but maybe we were in one part of the cabin and then they’re in the next, or some guys are up in similar cabins.”
“So, I don’t know. There was a little bit of work, a lot of sleep, and yeah, it was fine. I’m not sure how much banter or anything like that went on, but there’s a lot of good will between the two parties, so traveling together was good.”
