Coach Dave Rennie was “rapt” with the All Blacks performance in Saturday night’s win over Ireland and he’s confident they’re where they need to be ahead of the historic tour to South Africa.
The 40-21 victory, which extended New Zealand’s unbeaten run at Eden Park to a record 53 tests, was the All Blacks best performance so far this year.
The hosts led 28-7 at halftime and scored six tries as they finished the first leg of the inaugural Nations Championship with three wins from three games under their new coach.
All Blacks hooker Asafo Aumua scores next to the posts.
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Rennie said they got some important things right.
“I thought the balance of our game was really good,” Rennie said.
“We looked after the ball really well. Our big men carried a little bit more direct and smarter kicking. It created opportunities for us. I thought overall we defended really well.
“It’s a nice way to wrap up three weeks.”
The All Blacks scored six tries to three and overcame a yellow card in the victory over Ireland, with the hosts attack more clinical than it was in the first two tests against France and Italy, with fewer handling errors.
All Blacks winger Will Jordan scores a try.
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Rennie was happy with the All Blacks accuracy against what he described as strong Ireland side.
“We knew what was at stake,” Rennie said
“I thought the lads prepared well, especially our guys that didn’t get a chance. They really pushed us to the limit at training. When you get that and then we get a performance like that tonight, I’m just very proud of everyone in the squad.”
Defence had been an area of concern following the first two tests of the year and Rennie said defence coach Tana Umaga had been working hard and they were seeing improvements
“Tana and his group did a massive amount of work and we’re starting to get a bit of a response.”
All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu celebrates after scoring.
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Rennie had shifted Tupou Vaa’i from lock to blindside flanker and brought Patrick Tuipulotu into the the second row to beef up the All Blacks pack and he believes those selections paid off.
“I thought set-piece-wise we were really strong. Scrum was excellent. We thought we’d have an edge there. We had a pretty big pack on the park.
We made a few changes. The changes we made, those guys really barred up.”
With the Eden Park unbeaten streak safe, for now, and Ireland dispatched of, Rennie and the coaches will already be thinking about the World Champion Springboks and the four test series starting in South Africa next month.
“We’ve got a lot more in us. I reckon we can be a lot better, but what we’ve been able to put on the park in three weeks is pleasing and exciting.”
Rennie is expected to name his 40-odd strong squad for that six week tour on Monday week (July 27) and he said in the lead-up to the Ireland game that he had already made his selections.
The Springboks will be another step up and beating them at home would be no mean feat. Rennie is happy with how the All Blacks are tracking, but knows their next challenge will be the biggest of his time in charge.
“Yeah, it’s a different beast. South Africa put a B side last week and they beat an excellent Scotland team.
“We’ve worked really hard. We’ve put a lot of detail into our game. The boys have really embraced it. I think we’ve got a really good balance of working hard, but enjoying it and having fun. I think we’re in a good spot.”
All Blacks captain Ardie Savea barges over for a try.
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Rennie said he was genuinely looking forward to getting the team to South Africa and said it the tour shapes as a critical period for the All Blacks.
“We’ve done a lot of planning and detail around that. We’ll go over there and give it our best shot,” Rennie said.
“The exciting thing, I reckon, is we’ll come out of Africa, regardless of the results, in a much better place. We’ll know a lot more about the boys and our game model, the detail within that and we’ll be able to really hone in on our culture.”
The All Blacks have a couple of injury concerns from the Ireland game with hooker Codie Taylor and first-five Ruben Love both taken off.
Rennie said Taylor has a calf strain and could miss the first couple of non-test matches against provincial sides in South Africa.
