Dave Rennie sends fresh referee message after Springboks ‘piggyback’ penalties
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Fourth Test.
Dave Rennie has sent a fresh message to the referee ahead of the final Test in Baltimore after admitting the Springboks were able to “piggyback” their way downfield through penalties against the All Blacks in Soweto.
South Africa’s dominance at scrum time proved particularly costly for New Zealand in their 29-24 defeat at FNB Stadium, where the All Blacks conceded four scrum penalties and a penalty try.
The set-piece has become one of the major talking points of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with New Zealand questioning aspects of the Springbok scrum during the series.
Ahead of Saturday’s finale, however, Rennie has also accepted that the All Blacks contributed to their own problems by making errors which repeatedly handed South Africa opportunities to use one of their biggest weapons.
“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.”
Rennie then turned his attention to the officiating, with Karl Dickson set to take charge of the fourth and final Test.
“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.”
New Zealand have responded to their set-piece struggles by making significant changes to their pack for the finale.
Sam Darry is the only member of the starting front five from Soweto retained in the same position, with Ethan de Groot, Codie Taylor, Fletcher Newell and Patrick Tuipulotu all coming into the starting side.
The challenge for the All Blacks has been addressing those problems during an unusually short preparation in the United States.
They did not train on Monday following their journey from South Africa to Baltimore, leaving limited opportunities to work on their scrum before the series finale.
“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.”
Rennie also knows New Zealand must be more clinical away from the set-piece.
The All Blacks created 12 line breaks to South Africa’s five in Soweto according to the head coach, but repeatedly failed to turn those opportunities into points.
“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.”
South Africa take a 2-1 series lead into Baltimore, leaving the Springboks one victory away from claiming the series while New Zealand must win to finish level at 2-2.
