Dave Rennie on All Blacks powerhouse: 'He's such an athlete, such a beast'

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie is thrilled with his team’s depth at hooker, with Asafo Aumua starring in an extended run off the bench after an injury took Codie Taylor out of the contest early.

Aumua came on after 30 minutes and was quickly caught out of position on his own goal line, moving out to close a gap but not before Jack Conan exploited it to score Ireland’s first points of the game.

The bruising hooker made up for it with a try of his own eight minutes later, powering through both Joe McCarthy and Stuart McCloseky close to the line, having run over Josh van der Flier a few phases prior.

The try wasn’t initially given, with the officials missing the moment the ball hit the line, but it was reviewed and awarded after play broke down moments later. Speaking with the media following the full-time whistle, Aumua revealed he himself couldn’t tell if he’d scored or not.

“To be honest, I’m not sure,” he said. “Watching it on the big screen, my eyes were open, but I honestly could just see black. I definitely put it down; I just didn’t know if it was on the line or not.

“I can’t remember the last time I scored for the All Blacks. I think I cut someone off to score that try. I’ll watch the game back tomorrow and apologise.”

The 29-year-old played 21 minutes off the bench in the All Blacks’ win over France two weeks ago, and was anticipating more of the same against Ireland. Instead, he was dealt 50 “tough” minutes as New Zealand fought to protect and ultimately extend their unbeaten Eden Park streak to 53 games.

“I obviously didn’t expect to come on that early, but as Ardie (Savea) always says, as All Blacks, we’re always ready. I’m just happy to get the win.”

The 30th-minute injury that made way for Aumua’s early entry saw All Black centurion Codie Taylor exit looking a little ginger on his feet. Dave Rennie offered an initial update on the veteran postgame and shared his thoughts on Aumua’s performance.

“Codie just got a little strain in his calf, so we’ll assess that. It might mean that he doesn’t play in the first couple of weeks in Africa, but we’ll know a little bit more over the next few days,” the coach revealed, 21 days out from the All Blacks playing the Stormers in Cape Town.

“I thought Asafo was excellent. He’s such an athlete, such a beast. We’re pretty fortunate there with Samisoni (Taukei’aho) as well; I thought he played really well last week against the Italians. We’ve got good options, and I thought Asafo had a big impact on the game.”

Aumua said he took the game “moment by moment”, with the All Blacks “trying to bring some flair back to the black jersey.”

That mindset culminated in a sixth and final try in the 78th minute. With full-time approaching and New Zealand nursing a comfortable 14-point lead, team captain Ardie Savea gave the order: “We’re not going to wind down the clock; we’re going to play.”

Aumua said it’s part of Rennie’s new game plan.

“We’re trying to keep the ball moving, keep it alive, not give the opposition a rest. It’s pretty hard fitness-wise.”

The hooker is one of many in the New Zealand camp to speak on how challenging the team’s new style of play is on the lungs, but he says he dropped some weight ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific season, which has served him well.

“I had a good preseason, and that helped a lot. I was eating quite a bit. I was a bit heavy heading into preseason, but I’m happy to be back in good enough nick to play that game.

“I lied, I told the (Hurricanes’) nutritionist I was 124 (kg) when I was actually 126. Now, I’m 116. I was eating good food, just a lot.”