Assistant coach Neil Barnes admits the All Blacks are desperate to find solutions to match the power and precision of the Springboks up front on Saturday.
Trailing 2-1 in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, Dave Rennie’s troops have arrived in the US after a second successive defeat by the Boks, a 29-24 loss at FNB Stadium.
South Africa and New Zealand will next lock horns at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
EXPLAINED: Why Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry ends in USA
Barnes said the Kiwis had to be honest about where they were falling short after another bruising set-piece battle.
“It is close, if you look at all of the stats,” he said. “But at the end of the day we’re on the wrong side of the scoreboard, so we’re going to have to eat humble pie, be honest in our reviews and be solution-based because we’ve got to be better and be on that other side of the scoreboard.”
He acknowledged the Boks’ dominance at scrum time and their ability to turn that advantage into points and territory.
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“Their set-piece is pretty damn dominant and they get a gravy-train of penalties from it,” Barnes said. “We’ve got to be solution-based here. They’re good at what they do, and we’ve got to counter it.”
With Ardie Savea, Luke Jacobson and Quinn Tupaea ruled out after picking up injuries in Joburg, Barnes said Rennie and co cannot afford to blame officials or misfortune.
“We’ve got to take luck out of it, take the officials out of it, and we’ve got to be better.”
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Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post ‘Humble’ Kiwis look for scrum quick fix appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Assistant coach Neil Barnes admits the All Blacks are desperate to find solutions to match the power and precision of the Springboks up front on Saturday.
The post ‘Humble’ Kiwis look for scrum quick fix appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
