All Blacks take fresh swipe at Springboks ahead of series opener
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Not impressed.
Dave Rennie has taken a fresh swipe at the Springboks ahead of Saturday’s opening Test at Ellis Park, questioning why South Africa have chosen to publicly air their concerns over the All Blacks’ breakdown work.
The build-up to the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry has been dominated by discussion around the officials, with both camps highlighting areas they want closely monitored.
Springboks assistant Felix Jones revealed earlier this week that South Africa had received feedback from the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls regarding some of New Zealand’s actions at the breakdown and maul.
Rennie has now responded, confirming the All Blacks have also submitted footage of their own concerns through the appropriate channels — but have no intention of revealing them publicly.
“We sent in clips with concerns we’ve got,” Rennie said.
“I’m sure they’ve done the same thing. I’m not sure why they’re trying to air that stuff in the media.
“I’ve got no plans of sharing any of the clips we’ve sent in with the media.”
Rennie also addressed the specific incidents highlighted by Jones and dismissed the suggestion that they represented recurring themes in the All Blacks’ play.
“I think Felix was pointing out a handful of things. Clawing a leg, we did that once and got penalised. We threw a guy across the lineout once and got penalised.
“We were pulling back at the back of a maul, got penalised and were sin-binned.”
The All Blacks boss believes his side have learned from those incidents and stressed the importance of remaining on the right side of the officials against the world champions.
“So, we’ve learned. Discipline was much better on the weekend, and we know that’s going to be important against the Springboks.”
Despite the increasingly lively exchanges between the two camps, Rennie has no intention of publicly revealing the issues New Zealand have raised with the officials.
Instead, his focus is firmly on the enormous challenge awaiting the All Blacks at one of world rugby’s most intimidating venues.
“I think belief is a massive part of it. We’re going to Ellis Park to play the Springboks; it’s almost their mecca,” Rennie said.
“We know we’re going to have to be at our best; we know we’re going to have to be disciplined so we don’t give them easy entries into our 22, and we have to be really accurate.”
Rennie is also expecting South Africa to put considerable pressure on New Zealand through their kicking game, with the All Blacks preparing for an enormous physical and tactical battle.
“We’re going to have to really empty out the tank.”
The Springboks and All Blacks meet at Ellis Park on Saturday in the opening Test of their historic four-match series.
