Dave Rennie weighs in on All Blacks’ ‘quality performance’ against Wallabies

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie said his side’s response in the second half against the Wallabies turned their victory into a “quality performance”.

Rennie’s side, who claimed the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th consecutive season, took a while to get into the contest, with Les Kiss’ Wallabies putting the All Blacks under intense pressure.

The visitors had what proved to be crucial, game-defining opportunities shortly after half-time, but two sweeping interventions from experienced playmaker Beauden Barrett stopped any danger.

The All Blacks then marched up the field, turning possession into points, putting the game out of reach with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Discussing the victory with reporters post-match, Rennie said he was expecting a bounce-back performance from his side after a disappointing 3-1 series defeat against South Africa.

“I thought a quality performance was coming, but we’re also playing a really good side,” Rennie said in Auckland.

“So the arm wrestle in the first half, I thought we probably left a couple of opportunities out there, and then they scored late.”

Rennie, who coached the Wallabies for three seasons, pinpointed a couple of specific areas which improved for the All Blacks at Eden Park.

“We did a good job looking after the ball, and we played in the right parts of the field. Created good momentum and pressure and benefited from that.

“We’re happy. We talked about a number of areas that needed to be better coming out of South Africa, and we saw good shifts tonight. We’re confident in our ability, and we felt in Africa that we just lost key moments.

“We won a lot of those tonight. We had a really good edge around training, and we were well aware of the importance of winning here and also the Bledisloe Cup. So it was nice to nail that tonight.”

The All Blacks head coach admitted that the 31-point defeat at Eden Park won’t define this Wallabies side under Les Kiss, and he expects a stronger performance in Sydney next Saturday.

“Yeah, look, it’s a tough end for them, but it was nice to catch up with a number of those guys post-game. Oh, they’ll be hurting.

“They’ve had a really good year, and I’m confident they’ll bounce back next week. Look, I’m very, very happy with the mindset and the work ethic brutality, and it was spot on.”