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Dave Rennie on ABs lineout: 'There's no Brodie Retallick or Sam Whitelock out there'
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Dave Rennie has admitted his All Blacks side is still showing signs of growing pains in both the lineout and scrum battles, where they have been tested heavily during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.
Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks have been ferocious and clinical at set-piece when handed the opportunities, taking advantage of the All Blacks’ indiscretions around the field.
The 62-year-old All Blacks head coach explained to media in Washington, DC, and on the DSPN Podcast that his side’s inexperienced players will be better off after the gruelling seven-week tour of the Republic.
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All Blacks centurions Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick haven’t pulled on the black jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in France, two players Rennie pointed to when highlighting the experience his current locks lack.
“But you know, I think this is the thing where we’ve been together, ten weeks, and there’s lots of little things like that [lineout] which we think will get better in time.
“It’s even being able to change our lineout on the fly, and we haven’t got hugely experienced guys. There’s no Brodie Retallick or Sam Whitelock out there who can say, “oh s**t, they’re defending a little bit differently; let’s go to this or that.
“And so yeah, that’s where we’re at, we’ve got to develop those guys [locks] quickly.”
Rennie isn’t shying away from the facts surrounding the set-piece, but knows there are areas where the All Blacks can improve.
“So yeah, look, we’ve got no option. The set piece has to be better, and so we can’t hide from it.
“I reckon we’ll do a better job of staying in front of their maul this week. And when we got that right, I think the very first maul of the game, they went nowhere and had to play away from it. So that would be ideal.
“But again, I can’t remember the numbers from the weekend, but the week before we had 18 lineouts; they had nine, and that’s because we’re trying to kick out less, so we don’t have lineouts and mauls. So same principles: scrums, don’t make errors, don’t kick it out, and don’t give away soft penalties.”
Rennie said that although the distracting 26-hour travel day to Washington will affect the players, they’re fully focused on the job at hand, despite only being able to tie the Test series.
“My concern’s not an exhibition for the USA, who’ve got a World Cup here in 2031; this is more around us putting in a quality performance to finish off what’s been an awesome tour for us, learning-wise and culturally and our rugby stuff.
“But a chance to tie up a series two all, and it would have been nice to have left South African soil leading 2-1, and you feel like you’ve won a series on South African soil, but that’s not an option for us now.”
