Rennie on the South Africa tour: 'Some people might think it's daunting'

Dave Rennie is “excited” by the prospect of an eight-game tour against South Africa’s best, with the new All Blacks boss needing to make the most of every moment of the tour to get his team up to speed on the new game plan as next year’s Rugby World Cup ticks closer.

The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour will feature four Tests against the Springboks; three in South Africa and one in the United States, and will begin with four games against South Africa’s four URC clubs.

New Zealand Rugby chairman David Kirk noted the South Africa tour as a particular point of interest for the new coach, and had a message for the All Blacks’ opponents after appointing Rennie as Scott Robertson’s successor.

“We’re coming for you,” the former All Black said with a giant smile, speaking on the Herald Now news show. “We’ve got a bit of work to do; it’ll take a bit of building.

“Dave told all of us on the (appointment) panel that he’s very excited about the South African tour, because he’s going to have the team together for the six or seven weeks in the cauldron of competitive intensity, and that’s exactly what we need in the lead-up to the World Cup next year.”

Rennie himself emphasised that point at Wednesday’s press conference, when the fact that his win rate against the Springboks with the Wallabies was 75 per cent was brought forward.

“I’m not sure about my percentages against other teams,” Rennie joked in response, acknowledging his 38 per cent overall win rate with Australia.

“The rivalry’s massive, isn’t it? I’m really excited about that tour. Some people might think it’s daunting, but we’re going to get six weeks in Africa with 40-odd players. That’s a massive opportunity for us to really drive culture, get a lot of detail around our game model and come out of there 12 months away from a World Cup with a genuine clarity and excitement.”

The coach says he’s looking to raise the bar in all areas of the All Blacks’ game, and put the team’s recent unconvincing form into context when asked if New Zealand were falling behind in the global game.

“I think what we don’t understand in New Zealand is the quality of the game in the north,’ he explained to ex-All Black Jeff Wilson on The Breakdown. “I think we think that all of the innovation happens here, but there’s some fantastic rugby being played in other countries.

“There’s a bit of a player drain here; a lot of our best players will eventually leave and play overseas and strengthen their rugby, and there are a lot of smart coaches across the globe.

“My time in Glasgow helped me realise how strong the footy is up there, and as you can see, the Six Nations is massive, with the quality of the French and so on.

“So, I just think it’s a competitive landscape now, and we’ve got to be working hard to make sure we’re brilliant at basics and get real clarity on our game, and then how we can implement that.”