The new All Blacks regime under head coach Dave Rennie has taken a back-to-basics approach to the squad’s preparation for the first Test of the year this Saturday – including a re-examination of New Zealand’s rugby “legacy”.
1News has learned that one of the criticisms of the former coaching group, headed by Scott Robertson, was its move away from the near mythological touchstones of the All Blacks, so there was little surprise to hear today that one of Rennie’s first tasks was to reinstate them.
There is little doubt, either, that new assistant coach Tana Umaga, a former All Blacks captain, will have made his presence felt here.
Another assistant, Jason Ryan, who began with the All Blacks in 2022 under Ian Foster and who also coached with Robertson over the last two years before the man known as Razor was sacked in January, revealed today in Christchurch ahead of the Test against France that the All Blacks’ legacy had been front of mind recently.
“We’ve dug in really deep to the All Black legacy over the last couple of days and in our non-finalists' camp which has been really authentic,” Ryan said.
Gathering those squad members from the Highlanders, Crusaders and Blues into camp during the week of the Super Rugby Pacific grand final allowed Rennie and his assistants to lay the foundations thath have been built on since with six training sessions ahead of Saturday’s Nations Championship Test at Te Kaha Stadium.
With such little time to prepare – not unusual at this time of year – the All Blacks have unsurprisingly kept it simple over the past fortnight.
Ryan described Rennie’s impact as “unbelievable".
"[He's] tremendously clear on what he wants. Pretty strong in his messaging around how that’s needed and what is required, which is great, especially for a forwards coach," Ryan said: "One of the things that Rens has driven is being ‘brilliant at basics’ so we’ve put in a lot of skill work in each area and each player.
“I’ve got no doubt that that skill execution that we’re really driving will play a part in the structure of how we play together. There are combinations that are playing well too so I’m sure the selectors will look at that to get a little cohesion out of the blocks in the first game.”
Ryan, who sold mining equipment on the West Coast before rolling the dice and going all in on coaching at Canterbury after being asked by then head coach Robertson, has a good line in dry humour which is helpful in his line of work.
There are few guarantees, as he knows only too well. He was offered the job by Foster after previous forwards assistant John Plumtree was sacked and Ryan has seen both Foster and Robertson lose their roles.
Asked about his coaching journey with the All Blacks, Ryan said: “Have you seen Lone Survivor? Yeah, look I just try to do my job the best I can. There have been a few spanners thrown in there and a few different moving parts. But I’d like to say personally that I’ve stayed pure to who I am. I’ve been lucky enough to get an opportunity with Rens and this crew and I’m looking forward to it.”
There may be danger in mentioning a movie starring Mark Wahlberg which featured four Navy SEALs entering Afghanistan in a failed 2005 mission given the French have made the rugby ambush into a near art form, but Ryan is nothing if not an optimist.
“It’s well behind me now. There was some uncertainty, obviously. But when I got the message from Rens it was pretty special.
“It meant a lot. I want to coach my country and there’s no other team I’d want to coach in the world than the All Blacks. It’s a special team. It meant a lot to me.”
Ryan’s optimism not surprisingly extends to an All Blacks pack which will be tested in various ways over the next three weeks, starting with France and including Italy in Wellington and Ireland in Auckland.
“This forward pack has learned a lot of tough lessons over the last two or three years but I firmly believe that the best is ahead of it,” he said.
“We debuted a few over the last couple of years and we have Ardie [Savea] and Codie [Taylor] who both played their 100th test last year so there’s still a lot of experience as well.”
Ryan did have some bad news on prop Tamaiti Williams, however.
Williams, who was admitted to hospital with a spinal infection in March, was highly unlikely to tour South Africa, he said.
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