‘It’s frustrating’: Rennie identifies where All Blacks lost third Test to Boks

REACTION: All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie believes key moments ultimately proved the difference between his side and the Springboks in the third Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.

The All Blacks were outplayed by a clinical Springbok side and suffered a 24-29 loss ahead of the series decider in Baltimore next week.

After a quick start, Rennie’s men allowed the Boks to claw their way back into the game, and the teams were deadlocked at 12-12 at the break.

The Boks scored 17 points in the second half compared to the All Blacks’ 12 to claim back-to-back wins against the Kiwis after their 33-26 triumph in Cape Town last week.

In his assessment of the game, Rennie said it was frustrating and revealed where he felt his side lost the Test match.

“I think the Springboks got a fair bit of momentum mid-second half,” he said.

“We were able to play high tempo in the first half, and we saw a lot of their big man struggling, and we were keen to try and make them pay in the second half.

“We made a few errors which slowed the game down to a scrum, and then often a penalty and field possession for them. We had a period where, just after we had hit the lead, they dominated us at set piece, won all the scraps, and had all the momentum for that period, and got reasonably well in front.

“It’s frustrating because there was a lot of effort out there and we just weren’t clinical in the first half and couldn’t wrestle momentum back when it mattered in the second half.”

Despite losing two Tests in a row, Rennie believes his side is not far behind the Boks.

In the second Test, the All Blacks were undone by ill-discipline, which played right into the hands of the Boks, and a similar trend followed suit in Soweto.

“I don’t reckon there’s much in it,” the coach added.

“I didn’t think there was much in the first Test, which we won convincingly in the end according to the scoreboard.

“It’s key moments. A big moment today was Will Jordan kicking the ball dead; that was just unlucky. It was a good option, but you come back for a scrum, which turns into a penalty, a maul where they drive however many metres to score.

“They made hay when they had momentum, and we didn’t do that enough.”

The decisive blow from the Boks came in the 65th minute when Malcolm Marx scored from a rolling maul 20 metres out.

It is an area where the Boks have caused the All Blacks plenty of problems, and Rennie revealed how they plan to nullify the maul in the final Test.

“The key thing is you’ve got to get in front of it.

“The one they scored off, we competed, and then we scrambled to try and get in front of it, and they kept rolling through us.

“It was really the only one that troubled us today, and we’ve got to be able to stay in front of it; it’s disappointing.”

When quizzed about his thoughts on the scrum, Rennie kept it simple: “I think they were rewarded for dominance at times, so there are no issues with that.”

The All Blacks will head to Baltimore with plenty to fix if they are to level the series.

They’ll also be without captain Ardie Savea, Quinn Tupaea and loose forward Luke Jacobson, who all sustained injuries.

Rennie vowed they would attempt to bounce back.

“I’m really proud of the effort.

“Our boys worked very hard, but we need to improve our discipline because it gave them easy entries into our territory.

“We’ll review the scrum, but our line-out was strong and allowed us to get our game going.

“When you lose a Test, it’s easy to focus on the negatives. I can guarantee you, the room is pretty gutted, so our mindset will be to bounce back next week.”