'There's no side in the world dominating': Dave Rennie on the All Blacks' high ball strategy

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has claimed that “no team in the world” is dominating the aerial battle ahead of the Wallabies rematch in Sydney.

What was a consistent issue in South Africa for the All Blacks on the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour seemed to be rectified at Eden Park, with the All Blacks winning the aerial battle over the Wallabies.

With new rules around escorting, teams are trying to find the best solution with less protection around the catch area with the old blocking tactics outlawed.

Rennie shared the numbers behind the high ball contests which show that all teams receiving possession are struggling to win the contest.

“When you look at the high ball stuff, because there is a lot of conversations about it,” he told media on Thursday. 

“There’s no side in the world dominating the ball being kicked to them, and not South Africa.

“It’s the teams that kick the ball who are getting a lot of winning, a lot in the air, or getting a lot of scraps. I think I mentioned some stats last week, but it’s about one in four that are caught clean by the receiving team.

“So we kicked a lot of ball in the weekend in that situation and won a lot of it.

“I think the ball that was, that they’re kicking to us, our tactic has been to rather than come forward and get in the air where there’s a competition.

“We’re trying to track back so we can legally block and win ball there.”

The All Blacks reclaimed a number of Cam Roigard’s high box kicks which led to key momentum swings in the game, including their opening try to Peter Lakai after Jordie Barrett flew high over Joseph Suaalii.

Rennie said the retreater catcher technique lowers drastically the risk of a ‘soft penalty’ for blocking.

“So one of the tries we got on the weekend involved Will Jordan tracking back, and we went a couple of phases, won a ball in the air, and ended up scoring it.

“So that’s an important part of the game. Anyone who gets anywhere near blocking runs the risk of being penalised and it’s such a soft penalty.

“So yeah, so that’s the technique that we’ve been working on, and it’s no secret. I think there’s a number of sides in the world doing the same thing.”