Dave Rennie confirms All Blacks’ ‘frustrations’ and reveals ploy to stop Springboks’ ‘piggyback’ penalties: ‘We’ll put our faith in the ref’
All Blacks scrum versus Springboks and an inset of Referee Karl Dickson.
Dave Rennie says that the All Blacks were frustrated that they weren’t able to get continuity in the third Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test match against the Springboks.
New Zealand’s scrum came under immense pressure in Soweto, conceding four penalties and a penalty try while they also struggled at lineout time, opting for the bail-out at the front of the set-piece instead of trying to win the ball further back, which would have aided the attack.
The head coach has responded to these issues ahead of the RGR series decider in Baltimore, with the All Blacks able to level the series at two apiece, by retaining just one of the starting front five forwards – Sam Darry.
Rennie admits that the set-pieces weren’t up to scratch at the FNB Stadium and has called on his charges to be more accurate in possession to limit the influence of the scrum in particular.
Failing set-piece
This would go a long way to stopping the sequence of events that unfolded last week as South Africa repeatedly won scrum penalties and were able to march upfield time and time again with Rassie Erasmus’ men also reaping the reward of their powerful driving maul too.
“Oh, there are a lot of key things, aren’t there? We just got to be better,” Rennie said after naming his largely changed matchday 23, which includes the return of Richie Mo’unga in the number 10 jersey.
“We created a lot of opportunities on the weekend – I think there were 12 line breaks to five, but the Springboks are so good at scrambling and forcing you to make the wrong decision, and at times we had plenty of numbers left over, but they were able to shut us down. So we’ve got to be better.
“Obviously, the set-piece stuff is going to be really important, and the thing that frustrated us was the continuity we wanted, and that’s our own issue. You make an error, and it ends up being a scrum. There was often a penalty, and the Springboks were able to piggyback down the field. So, we need to be better in that area.”
Shortened training week for New Zealand
The All Blacks and Springboks boarded the same charter plane to the United States after the third Test match at the weekend, and delays en route meant that their preparation time had been cut even shorter.
That, plus the demands of the tour in South Africa, forced New Zealand to have a less intensive week in the build-up to the fourth game, which means that they have had less time on the training paddock to address the set-piece failings.
Rennie adds that the forwards know what they need to do in order to limit the damage and while the All Blacks are at loggerheads with World Rugby over scrum legalities, he is putting his faith in referee Karl Dickson to officiate the pictures both teams present.
“Again, it’s been a shortened week for us. We didn’t train on Monday at all,” he explained.
Springboks are ‘bossing’ the scrum as ex-hooker claims All Blacks coaching ‘is not good enough
“Tuesday was a sort of combined Monday/Tuesday, and then we trained again this morning. So, we’ve had a couple of scrum sessions. Look, the boys are clear that we’ve got to be good enough to stay in front of them.
“When we got it wrong, we got punished, so we’ll put our faith in the ref that he’ll make decisions based on the pictures.”
All Blacks’ loose forward and bench selections explained
It’s not just in the tight-five where Rennie has made changes with back-rowers Ardie Savea and Luke Jacobson being ruled out through injury.
This has opened the door for Ethan Blackadder’s return to the Test team as he packs down in a loose trio that features Peter Lakai at number eight with Tupou Vaa’i shifting from the second row into the blindside flanker position. Wallace Sititi, who impressed off the bench for the injured Savea in Soweto, is included among the replacements yet again.
“Wallace was really good off the bench last week, and we talked a lot about potentially starting him,” Rennie said.
“But we think Tupou has played his best rugby at six, and Ethan will go 120 minutes if you need him to. So it made sense to start him, and he’s been excellent.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
“It came down to Wallace or Pete; we think the bench that we’ve got will be important with 30 or 40 to go. He was great last week, and we expect him to have the same impact.”
The bench also includes veterans Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett, who both earn their first Test caps this weekend.
“It’s nice to get those guys involved. We’ve been discussing them constantly,” said the head coach.
“Again, we thought we’d be able to make those shifts in this game, and they have prepared well. They’re both really excited about the opportunity to get a crack, and it’s a chance for them to make a bit of a statement and put a bit of pressure on us long-term, selection-wise.”
