Defence coach Tana Umaga backs the All Blacks’ high-tempo approach under Dave Rennie for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, but insists there’s no room for error.
In head coach Rennie’s first three games at the helm, New Zealand swept aside France, Italy and Ireland in the Nations Championship with a possession-based game plan.
Rennie’s men have arrived in the Republic for their much-anticipated eight-match tour, launching against the Stormers next Friday. The first of four Tests kicks off on 22 August at Ellis Park, and Umaga warns the Boks will be ready.
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“Once you’ve started on that trajectory, you have to keep going with it,” Umaga said in an interview with Newstalk ZB. “It’s what we’ve stated and what we train, so you’ve got to keep pushing those boundaries and keep persevering.
“And we’ve got a group of guys that really want to play that kind of rugby.
“We just know that we need to be at our best once we get to South Africa, because we know they’re sitting there, waiting for us and looking at us, and they’ll be very confident in knocking us over,” he added.
“It is a style of rugby that is very attractive, but it means that we have to be very good at our detail and very good at the fundamentals of the game.”
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The tour also presents a new tactical challenge, pitting Umaga against former All Blacks teammate Tony Brown, now South Africa’s attack coach, while preparing the Kiwis for four club matches across the country.
“It’s obviously something I haven’t come across before in my coaching career,” Umaga said. “We also know that a week’s a long time in rugby in terms of how you can change tactics and adapt to what you’ve seen the week before.
“So, it’s an interesting kind of environment that we’ll be in.”
Umaga also flagged building depth and combinations as priorities beyond results: “It’s not that we don’t work towards making sure we get success in all of the matches we play in South Africa, but there are some bigger things at play for us around growing depth.”
Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
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Defence coach Tana Umaga backs the All Blacks’ high-tempo approach under Dave Rennie for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, but insists there’s no room for error.
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