All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has spoken of the “massive emotional disappointment” of losing the South African series 2-1 and hinted at changes this week for the fourth Test in Baltimore after a long journey from Johannesburg.
The All Blacks travelled on a charter flight with the Springboks – a delay leaving the Republic and a stop off in the Canary Islands made for a total travel time of more than 24 hours – arriving in Washington DC to temperatures of 32C or more.
That, and an arduous tour of South Africa featuring four club matches and three Tests, means Rennie’s men will require careful handling this week. For that reason, they will have a far lighter week of preparation and train only on Tuesday and Thursday morning (local time) before travelling to Baltimore for the Test at M&T Bank Stadium, a venue that can hold more than 70,000 spectators.
Asked on a media call this morning about the energy levels in the group, Rennie said: “We’ve definitely got one more in us”, before adding: “We didn’t train today because it was really important to freshen up mentally.
“We’ve had leaders’ meetings but tried to give the guys the day off. There is massive emotional disappointment but there’s a lot to play for in our minds. We can win this weekend and tie the series two-all and will go home knowing we’re in a better spot than when we arrived.”
The 29-24 defeat to the Boks in Soweto in what was the deciding Test on South African soil will have been a difficult one for Rennie and his men to process. They were again dominated by the home pack but the match could have gone the other way had a couple more goalkicks been successful and a couple more tackles made.
It also took a toll injury-wise, with skipper Ardie Savea, Quinn Tupaea and Luke Jacobson major casualties.
Asked whether the unavailability of the trio would alter his thinking around selections for this week, Rennie replied: “We always thought we’d make changes for the fourth Test regardless of whether we won that third one or not… to make sure we bring in guys with plenty of energy and to share the load.
“Obviously, the three key players missing alters a bit of that thinking as well but what we know is that we’ll have a highly motivated 23 guys stripping [up] at the weekend.”
First-five Richie Mo’unga will presumably enter the frame as a replacement for Ruben Love, who has started all six Tests this year, with flanker Ethan Blackadder a potential replacement for Jacobson. Peter Lakai or Wallace Sititi may start at No.8.
Leroy Carter is 'such a good man'
An intriguing selection will be left wing. Leroy Carter has impressed hugely on this tour for his attacking spark and defence but his two missed tackles at the weekend, that led directly to two Boks’ tries, were hugely costly.
Fellow wing Josh Moorby was dropped after missing a tackle in the first Test which suggests Carter may be given a rest this week, with Moorby, Rieko Ioane or Emoni Narawa potential replacements.
Asked how he would deal with Carter, Rennie said: “Give him a cuddle. He’s such a good man and I’ll tell you, he was hurting. It’s tough… a winger misses a tackle and it’s out in the open and you concede points – it hurts. A big fella around the edge of a ruck misses a tackle and no one notices. But that’s part of the responsibility of him defending out wide. I know he’ll be better.”
Rennie and his men will be desperate for the win on Sunday that will allow them to share the trophy – the special design, held together by magnets, allows it to be split in two – but he felt this toughest of tours has been valuable regardless.
“We’ve had more time together,” Rennie said. “Prior to coming [to South Africa] we’d had three and a half weeks together and there’s a lot of detail within our game – there has been a chance to grow that.
“Culturally it’s been good for us – connection wise – and, when you look at the footy we’ve played and the amount of players we’ve used, it’s been really good for us long term.
“You reflect on that [recent] game and there were a couple of things that if we’d done a bit better maybe we get a better result. We know we’re not going to be flawless because of the type of game we’re trying to play. We’re not going to get it right every time from a decision-making point of view but if we can create enough of those opportunities and take a big chunk of them then that should be good enough to win games.”
Scrum issues remain
The thorny topic of scrums remains, however, after one monster of an effort from the Boks in Soweto resulted in a penalty try.
Rarely out of the headlines on this tour – from the All Blacks’ complaints about the tactics of the South Africans in this area, and the replies by the aggrieved parties – it's an issue that refuses to die.
It is clear the officials have recently been instructed to focus on the technicalities of the opposing hookers’ “brake” feet; the two players’ left feet as they set up next to the mark. The All Blacks’ issue is that the officials are now looking at little else.
Asked about the scrums this morning, Rennie said: “We can talk about scrums but clearly our view and the view of World Rugby and the officials is different, so you’ve just got to deal with that.
“They don’t see it the way we do and they’re the ones that matter on game day. We’ll have to be better. On our ball, the scrum was reasonably solid. We got it badly wrong on one and got punished on one of their feeds. It’s a weapon for them and that’s the challenge. We want high continuity. If you make an error, they go to a set piece, get a penalty off that and march up the field. It’s still an area we have to be better in.”
Rennie was reluctant to elaborate but added: “We’ve said a few things and have spoken to World Rugby about it. They agree in some parts but not necessarily on everything.
“The sole focus at the moment seems to be the brake foot and if referees are looking for the brake foot they don’t see all the other things that you’re supposed to be looking at. I don’t think we’re helping our referees by making their job any easier.
“In the end that wasn’t the deciding factor in the game. South Africa were very good at creating opportunities and taking their chances. That maul which they scored from under the posts – that was a big moment in the game. We know we can do a few things a bit better to limit their opportunities and be a little bit more clinical [then] the result could go the other way.”
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