All Blacks coach Dave Rennie expects the Springboks to stick to their set-piece and aerial approach for the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test in Cape Town on Saturday. CLINTON VAN DER BERG reports.
Fronting up to the media in Johannesburg on Sunday afternoon, there was no triumphalism from Rennie.
“It’s important we don’t get carried away,” he said in the aftermath of his team’s emphatic win at Ellis Park. “We’ve almost had a reset.
“We’ll take a lot out of the game, though. I thought our leaders did a really good job of managing various situations. I thought we won a lot of key moments, both in defence and attack. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves, and I reckon we’ll be better this weekend, and I think South Africa will be too.”
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Reflecting on his team’s apparent troubles in the scrum, Rennie conceded that it’s a complex part of the game, but “they certainly got the hit on us a couple of times”.
He said he spoke to Rassie Erasmus afterwards, the Bok coach admitting that losing both wings had put pressure on the team’s resources, necessitating several redeployments.
Speculating on how the Boks might respond in Cape Town, Rennie was unequivocal: “They’ll double down, probably feel they had the edge on us at scrum time. The aerial contest… they’re good in that area. They’ll double down and try to do it better.”
Asked if Saturday’s win was the most significant of his long career, Rennie thought about it for a second. “Yes,” he declared.
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On team preparation this week, Rennie said: “We haven’t talked about it at all with the group that played yesterday. Everyone gathered when we named the team this morning [to face the Lions at Ellis Park on Tuesday], our team had a quick preview and trained, and the rest of the guys did recovery.
“I’ve had a chat with the captains, and we’ve got a leadership meeting this afternoon where we’ll talk a little bit about what’s important this week, but there’s been no discussions yet with the players.”
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Turning to Tuesday’s match against the Lions, which will be Richie Mo’unga’s first for the All Blacks since the 2023 World Cup final, Rennie said the selection was keen to “give it a rip”.
Having campaigned long and hard for Mo’unga’s inclusion in the tour party, Rennie is excited to see him play.
“He’s been awesome. I told him we’d not consider him for the first Test … he had no expectation to start. He’s been phenomenal [in Japan]. His vision decision stuff is phenomenal. He and [flyhalf rival] Ruben Love work a lot together.
“Richie gets the chance [against the Lions] to put a bit of pressure on.”
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Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Rennie: Boks will double down appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
All Blacks coach Dave Rennie expects the Springboks to stick to their set-piece and aerial approach for the second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test in Cape Town on Saturday.
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