Dave Rennie: ‘Springboks are beatable but you’ve got to be at your best’
Springboks forward Jasper Wiese is tackled by two All Blacks players and an inset of head coach Dave Rennie.
Dave Rennie says that teams need to be at their best to beat the Springboks.
The All Blacks boss has been reviewing his team’s performance in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, where they lost three successive matches after going 1-0 up in Johannesburg.
Rennie’s side will now get the opportunity to end their losing streak when they host Australia at Eden Park in the opening Bledisloe Cup Test match of the year, on October 10.
The Wallabies head to Auckland off the back of beating a much-changed Springboks outfit in Perth with Rennie well aware of the challenge awaiting his charges.
Review of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series
Reflecting on Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, the head coach says that the All Blacks did a lot of things right and believes that they are heading in the right direction.
“Yeah, a fair bit,” he told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast show when asked how much of a review he has conducted.
“Obviously, we’ve had a couple of weeks off, and it’s been a pretty full-on three months. As coaches, we’ve done a bit of individual work and then got back together and had a discussion around what went well, but what needs to be better.
“So, it’s fair to say we’re disappointed and probably a bit frustrated. We did a lot of good things, but need to be better.”
Rennie added that it was ‘pretty awesome’ to tour South Africa with his side playing three Test matches in the Republic and faced all of the local United Rugby Championship team.
“It’s a passionate country, huge about their footy and a lot of respect between the two sides,” he said.
“We had a captured audience for seven weeks where we learned a lot about 40 odd guys, so I think we’re in a lot better place because of that.”
All Blacks committed to their style of play
While the squad and the coaches were disappointed by losing the Test series to the Boks, Rennie said that they won’t be changing the way that they play going forward.
“The rugby is tough, we’re disappointed, but we’re committed to the way we’re trying to play. And when we get that right, we’re a real handful. We’ve just got to be better and do that, I guess, be more accurate when it counts,” he added.
He was then asked whether South Africa doing something different that’s producing exceptional sides.
“It’s a very experienced team and when you look at it, they’ve won two World Cups in a row, which puts them right up with the most successful sides in history,” Rennie replied.
“They’ve got a lot of guys who are well into their 30s and they play a lot of footy together. They’re clear on their DNA and you’ve got to beat them. They don’t give you anything.
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“So that’s the impressive thing about South Africa but they’re beatable but you’ve got to be at your best and that’s where we want to get to.”
The All Blacks did beat the Boks in the series opener at Ellis Park, claiming a rather emphatic 33-16 victory. However, Rennie admitted that scoreline was bloated.
“We knew that the game was a lot closer than the score indicated. We knew, the next Test was pretty tight as was the third,” he said.
“So while we knew that they would bounce back and that they would be tougher because that group has been together for a long time. We are disappointed because we had our chances. That’s what we do from now [take those chances]. That’s the key now.”
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