'Nil all at full-time': Dave Rennie weighs in on All Blacks-Wallabies 2027 pool clash

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has offered his thoughts on the “crazy draw” for Rugby World Cup 2027 which will see either New Zealand or Australia in line to face the Springboks should they both progress through the round of 16.

Rennie’s All Blacks are ranked number two in the world while South Africa are number one following the 3-1 series win in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, which means the top two ranked teams are potentially on a collision path in the quarter-finals.

The pool game between New Zealand and Australia in Sydney, where this week’s second Bledisloe Cup Test will be played, will likely decide which team will have the South Africa match-up in their path.

The idea of both teams wanting to lose that fixture was put forward to Rennie at Thursday’s press conference.

“Yeah… nil all at full-time,” Rennie joked.

“Oh look, well to me it just highlights a crazy draw.

“You look at the football World Cup and the top four ranked sides in the world play each other in the semis, it seems hard to believe that you have got us pitted against South Africa, potentially in a quarter-final, and the winner of that plays France.

“But you know, I mean, it is what it is now. It’s probably been similar before.

“So look, to win a title you’ve got to beat them all anyway. but that’s the path in front of us.”

On whether this week’s Bledisloe Cup game offers an ‘edge’ to the winning side, Rennie believed it was too far away to have any impact.

He said that the All Blacks had a lot to prove last week, securing the Bledisloe, ending a three-game losing run and extending the Eden Park record, so that fuel for this week is missing.

Rennie insisted that they will try to go up another level and the consistency in the team selection is a big part why.

“We haven’t really been talking about the World Cup,” Rennie said.

“There’s no doubt we had a good edge about us last week.

“We came off three losses, back at home. Obviously, playing in Eden Park, where we hadn’t lost since ’94, and the Bledisloe that we hadn’t lost for 20 odd years.

“So there was a lot of expectation, and we used that. We didn’t shy away from it. We talked about it, and you know, we wanted to add to the legacy last week. And so we’ve got to make sure this week that you never let us lay secure, and so is the record of Eden Park.

“But we’ve got to make sure we do justice to the jersey, and so we put a lot of time into making sure the mindset’s right, and but you know, as far as bragging rights for the World Cup, it’s so far away.

“I think by the time we get to play in pool play, it’ll just be about who’s the best on the day.”