Coach Dave Rennie and skipper Ardie Savea hailed the All Blacks’ composure to beat the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday, but expect a fiery rematch in Cape Town next week.
New Zealand scored five tries to one to claim a 33-16 win in the opening Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, having led just 19-16 before pulling clear in the final quarter. The four-match series moves on to Cape Town Stadium next Saturday.
“There was nothing in that game. I know the score might sound convincing, but it was an absolute arm-wrestle at 19-16,” Rennie said post-match.
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“We were under the pump and the boys barred up. We defended and defended, and then we were clinical when we got our opportunities. So, yeah, I’m proud, a massive effort. It’s a great result for us, but we’re wary of the response we’ll get next week.”
Rennie pointed to the scrum battle and the Boks conceding late penalties as a key moment.
“We’ll always debate scrums, I reckon every team does. They got penalised for walking around, and that was a key moment in the game. We got great impact off the bench. Happy with the effort up front, and the scrum was solid in that last 30 minutes.”
He confirmed loosehead prop Ethan de Groot and lock Josh Lord, both withdrawn with head knocks, are almost certain to miss Tuesday’s clash against the Lions and possibly next Saturday’s showdown.
“Only two injuries tonight. Obviously, a head clash, which is problematic long-term. Neither of those guys can play on Tuesday and probably can’t play on Saturday.”
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Rennie highlighted New Zealand’s efficiency inside the Boks’ 22 as the difference between the two teams.
“We kept giving them entry into the 22, but South Africa are the best in the world. They score five-and-a-half points every entry, and tonight I think it was 0.9, whereas we were at 3.7. I reckon that’s a big stat.”
On the turning point, he referenced a charge-down try from lock Fabian Holland around the hour mark before New Zealand camped in Bok territory.
“We’d been under the pump for so long, but they kicked the penalty, we got down, charged down, and Holland scored. That was a bit of a soft one. I thought we were better in that last 20. They ended up with a couple of cards, which made the job a little easier.”
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Savea added: “You talked about being composed in tight moments, and you could just see the boys were really present in the moment. All you can ask for as a leader is for everyone to do their job, and everyone did that.”
He also paid tribute to Bok centre Damian de Allende’s milestone 100th Test appearance. “A special player, but more importantly a special human being. The All Blacks just want to make a massive shout-out to him too.”
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
The post Proud Rennie wary of Bok response appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Dave Rennie and skipper Ardie Savea hailed the All Blacks’ composure to beat the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday, but expect a fiery rematch in Cape Town next week.
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