'It was the right call': Dave Rennie weighs in on Ardie Savea's tackle on Jasper Wiese

A dramatic turning point in the All Blacks 33-16 win over the Springboks came with the All Blacks looking to land the definitive blow with a 10-point lead.

A Quinn Tupaea 50-22 turned the screws and had the Boks pinned deep in their 22, but a loose ball turnover ended up in the hands of Jasper Wiese. The No.8 powered through the tackle of Ardie Savea, before the All Blacks captain pinched a breakdown steal two phases later to put New Zealand back on attack.

A grubber kick from Jordie Barrett pinned the Boks on the five, where a strong counter-ruck won back possession, before reserve flanker Marco van Staden played halfback Cam Roigard, coming from a side entry to disrupt play.

A referral from the TMO asked the officials to look at the original tackle on Wiese by Savea, with Matt Carley ruling no foul play had occurred.

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie called the decision ‘technically correct’ while Ardie Savea expressed relief of the decision.

“So technically, it’s the right call,” Rennie said when asked post-match.

“So you’ll see the footage that when Ardie hits him, his head comes forward, and so that means that your first impact’s on the body, if the head goes forward.

“If it goes backward, it means first impact is straight on the head. So it’s a really good refereeing, and good to see at this level.”

Savea revealed he was nervous when the officials deliberated over the call.

“I’ll be pretty biased tonight that I’m happy for the decision. But yeah, I was nervous, but they made the decision, they made the call, and they worked in our favour.”

After foul play was ruled to have not occurred, the indiscretion by Van Staden on the goal line was ruled to be a professional foul. The ruck had formed and the deliberate side entry illegally played the halfback resulting in a yellow card for the flanker.

From the very next scrum halfback Cobus Rienach attempted a one-hand intercept, resulting in knocking the pass down which resulted in another yellow card.

With a two-man advantage the All Blacks eventually landed the final blow in the 74th minute, captain Ardie Savea floating a pass to the unmarked Will Jordan to go over untouched. A sideline conversion from Ruben Love pushed the lead out to 33-16.

Rennie was happy to see the All Blacks take advantage from the momentum shift after being unable to capitalise in the first half on penalties.

“We’re under the pump for for a number of minutes, maybe the next five or six,” he said of the momentum shift.

“And so to come out of that and then get a little bit of territory, and then I think somewhere in there we got a 50-22, and we’re able down there, and we got rewarded.

“We felt we got some penalty advantage early in the game. We just weren’t able to to get any continuity off that to put put the Springboks under pressure or bring the ref into the game, and I thought we were better in that sort of last 20.

“Ended up with a couple of cards, which made the job a little easier.”