Dave Rennie reveals private moment with Rassie Erasmus after fiery Springboks row
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Respect.
All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has played down suggestions of a war of words with Rassie Erasmus, revealing the pair shared a beer following last weekend’s second Test in Cape Town.
Tensions have appeared to rise between the two camps following South Africa’s 33-26 victory, with the scrum becoming a major talking point ahead of Saturday’s third Test at FNB Stadium.
Rennie initially raised concerns about the Springboks “walking around” at scrum time, prompting a fiery response from Erasmus.
The Springbok coach strongly rejected the accusation and questioned why New Zealand had taken their concerns into the media.
However, Rennie insists there is no personal issue between the two coaches and revealed they enjoyed a drink together following the match.
“We certainly aren’t going out of our way to create narratives, and I don’t see this as a war of words between myself and Rassie Erasmus,” Rennie said.
“We had a beer after the game. There’s a huge amount of respect.”
The relationship between the two camps will become even more interesting following Saturday’s third Test, with the Springboks and All Blacks set to travel together on the same charter flight to Baltimore for the final game of the series.
Rennie revealed Erasmus has already joked about the unusual arrangement.
“Rassie joked about it last week because someone’s going to be grumpy getting on the plane.”
The All Blacks boss pointed to the relationship between the players as another example of the respect that exists between the two great rivals despite the intensity on the field.
“They spend 80 minutes trying to rip each other’s heads off, and then they’re having beers together afterwards.”
The comments offer a different perspective on a week dominated by the increasingly heated debate surrounding the scrum.
Saturday’s clash will be the final Test of the series in South Africa before both teams make the trip to the United States for the fourth and final encounter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
