The biggest mistake the All Blacks can make in Cape Town

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has named the biggest mistake the All Blacks can make in the second Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.

The All Blacks and Springboks touched down in Cape Town this week, with the series sitting at 1-0 in favour of the visiting nation, meaning the hosts have their backs against the wall.

There will be no second chances for the Springboks from here. A loss on Saturday will eliminate any chance of victory in the historic series, but a win would put both teams back on even footing.

The challenge for New Zealand is equally clear: stay ahead of the Springbok response. That point was made crystal clear by Rennie on Thursday when asked what the biggest mistake his side can make at DHL Stadium is.

“The biggest mistake? I mean, this is not going to happen, but us thinking that what we did last week will be enough to win this week,” the coach replied. “That’s why I’m saying I think we can be a lot better. We’re expecting South Africa to be a lot better.

“It’s about having that mindset that we’re going to have to go deeper this week.”

South Africa haven’t lost back-to-back Tests in four years, a fact acting as a powerful reminder of the team’s consistency ahead of the Cape Town showdown.

Rather than using the question as an opportunity to assert any confidence in his side, Rennie was transparent when asked for his prediction of the match’s outcome.

“God, I’d take a one-point win,” Rennie said. “It’s hard to say, isn’t it? It could be an absolute arm-wrestle. And both sides have got enough X-factor to finish pretty strong, like we did last week in what was a very tight match.”

That Ellis Park Test featured a ball-in-play time of just under 30 minutes, a remarkably low figure in modern rugby. That’s a far cry from the style of game the All Blacks want to be playing.

“I mean, we’d like that to be higher; it probably suits our DNA,” Rennie said. “The fact that there were a hell of a lot of scrums in one spot at various times meant that the game was stationary.

“I guess that’s up to us, how we need to be really accurate, and we need to be disciplined, and if we can hang on to a bit of ball then we have an opportunity to stress them. But if we don’t get that part right, then we play into their hands.

“The expectation is that our scrum will be a lot better. We think if they’re forced to scrum square, and not allowed to step sideways and walk around us, then we’ll be able to stay in front of that, and we’ll be able to get footy going off that.”