mens
international
All black people Assistant coach Jason Ryan admitted he was “quite looking at himself” after a disappointing 3-1 series defeat to back-to-back world champions the Springboks.
Ryan and the All Blacks fell to three successive defeats in Rugby’s Biggest Rivalry series in 2026, despite taking an impressive 1-0 lead at Ellis Park in the first Test match.
But it was what followed the historic win in Johannesburg that will hurt the All Blacks team and coaches the most, after a preview of Sunday night’s four-Test, eight-game tour in Auckland.
Dave Rennie’s side now host an in-form Wallabies side, who are unbeaten under new head coach Les Kiss, before traveling to Sydney for the second Bledisloe Cup Test.
Ryan, who said he was very aware of the challenges ahead against the Wallabies, addressed the media at Auckland on Monday, where the 51-year-old was asked what was done about the row during their three-week hiatus.
“Yeah, look, I’ve looked at myself pretty well. You know, I’ve probably learned more in seven weeks than I have in a couple of years, to be honest,” Ryan said in Auckland.
“Playing the Springboks, the best in the world at what they do. Four Tests in a row, so unique. But it put us in a good place.
“I think it’s a scramble, you’ve got to kind of break it up. I think we’re number three in the world for top ball on our ball, but the opposition’s ball, that’s what we have to sort out, and I think there were seven penalties in total, which were big momentum swings at key moments.
“So we’re going to call up a few more boys and having Scooter (Scott Barrett) back in the pack and a bit more experience, it all helps. So we’ve been really honest about it and we know where we need to go.”
Ryan detailed what happened on Sunday night in a review of the Springboks series with the squad, which included frank discussions about possible areas of improvement.
“The tour sucked a lot of juice out of everyone, and it was good to come last on Sunday night, and we looked at that as a group; the leaders drove it extremely well, as did the coaches in every area.
“And there’s a little bit of uneasiness in the room, as there should be when you’re reviewing something like that. And obviously we’re coming off a three-game losing streak, so we’re confident that we’ve gone through areas of our game with a real true essence and clarity about what we need moving forward, pretty quickly.”
“So it was good to put that to bed and then move on as we look at the Bledisloe Cup this week.”