‘Looked pretty hard on myself’: ABs scrum coach addresses lingering set-piece concerns

All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan has admitted he’s “looked pretty hard at himself” after a disappointing 3-1 series defeat against the back-to-back World Champions, the Springboks.

Ryan and the All Blacks slumped to three straight defeats in 2026’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, despite taking an impressive 1-0 lead at Ellis Park in the first Test match.

But what followed the historic Johannesburg victory will be what hurt the All Blacks squad and coaches most, after reviewing the four-Test, eight-game tour on Sunday evening in Auckland.

Dave Rennie’s side now host an in-form Wallabies side, who are unbeaten under new head coach Les Kiss, before travelling to Sydney for the second Bledisloe Cup Test.

Ryan, who said he’s well aware of the challenges ahead against the Wallabies, addressed the media in Auckland on Monday, where the 51-year-old was asked what work has been done around the scrum during their three-week break.

“Yeah, look, I looked pretty hard on myself. You know, probably learnt more in seven weeks than I have in a number of years, to be honest,” Ryan said in Auckland.

“Playing the Springboks, best in the world at what they do. Four tests in a row, so unique. But it’s put us in a good place.

“I think the scrum, you’ve got to sort of break it down. I think we’re number three in the world for top quality ball on our ball, but the opposition ball, that’s what we’ve got to tidy up, and I think it was seven penalties in total, which were big momentum shifts at crucial times.

“So we’ll get a few more boys dialled in, and having Scooter [Scott Barrett] back in the pack and a little bit more experience, it all helps. So we’ve been really honest about that, and we know where we’ve got to head.”

Ryan detailed what went on in Sunday night’s review of the Springboks series with the squad, which included honest conversations about the possible areas of improvement.

“The tour sucked a lot of juice out of everyone, and it was good to come in last on Sunday night, and we reviewed that as a group; leaders drove that exceptionally well, as well as the coaches in each area.

“And there’s a little bit of discomfort in the room, as there should be when you’re reviewing something like that. And obviously coming off the back of three losses, so we make sure we went through areas of our game with real genuine substance and clarity around what we need to move forward, pretty quickly on.

“So it was good to put that to bed, and then we move on as we look into the Bledisloe Cup this week.”