AUCKLAND — Dave Rennie says his All Blacks are better than their recent results against the Springboks suggest and wants New Zealand to rectify their season over the final six Tests. New Zealand won the opening Rugby's Greatest Rivalry Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg but then lost three in succession against South Africa in Cape Town, Soweto and Baltimore, respectively.
Speaking ahead of back-to-back Bledisloe Cup matches against the Wallabies at Eden Park, Rennie told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast show the group was disappointed. "Obviously, we built pretty well through July. I thought their performance against Ireland was pretty strong, and the tour of South Africa was really good for us, but it's still disappointing," he said. "We think we are better than the results, but you've got to earn it. We feel we let ourselves down a little bit and we get a chance to rectify that over the last six Tests of the year."
The Bledisloe Cup Tests will be the first time Rennie faces his former employers after serving as Australia's head coach between 2020 and 2023. He kept a close eye on the Wallabies' stunning 42-38 victory over the Springboks in Perth at the weekend. "They're a strong side," he said of the Wallabies. "They've got a lot of guys who have been together since I was here in 2020. Maybe 10 of those guys have played the last seven years together and, you know, they've got 50, 60, 70 Tests over their belt. So that's a reasonably experienced Wallabies side now. They've got some genuine X-factor and I thought they were excellent against South Africa on the weekend." Rennie added: "The score was close because they have so many players sent off late so they were pretty emphatic and it's a really good indication to our players around how tough it's going to be at Eden Park, so we are looking forward to it."
Rennie, who took over from Scott Robertson, said the coaching staff are putting pressure on themselves to improve despite positive feedback on style. "Look, I think we've put pressure on ourselves. There's no doubt," he said. "Lots of people are telling me that they love the way we're trying to play, but I still think you need to find a way of getting results and so we've got to be better in that area. But there's no doubt there's emphasis on winning, but it's also about how we win. We're trying to grow a game that we think can win a World Cup. We show glimpses of that against the South Africans and when we did, we really challenged them. So you've got to do that more often, limit their opportunities. So we are constantly challenging ourselves to be better." Following the Wallabies Tests, New Zealand will embark on the northern hemisphere leg of the Nations Championship with Tests against Scotland, Wales, England and another on finals weekend, with the Wallabies bringing a 34-man squad named for the Bledisloe Cup Tests.