'The result hurts': All Blacks boss tries to pick up the pieces after Baltimore thumping
REACTION: All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie believes his side is heading in the right direction despite Saturday’s thumping defeat to the Springboks in Baltimore.
South Africa won the inaugural Greatest Rivalry series 3-1 after they outscored the All Blacks by six tries to four on their way to a 43-28 victory at the M&T Bank Stadium in the fourth and final Test.
There was a lot of hope in the All Blacks’ camp after they started the Test series with a 33-16 victory at Ellis Park. However, they will now be heading home knowing they are the first New Zealand team to lose three in a row against South Africa since the class of 2009.
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“We’re gutted. We were confident that if we got a few things right tonight, we would have a good chance of winning, and we fell short, so it’s disappointing from that perspective,” Rennie told reporters after the Baltimore showdown.
“From a tour point of view, I think I said four or five months ago, whenever I got appointed, that I was really excited about the tour. We knew it was going to be tough, but we’d learn a lot about ourselves, and we would leave with a better understanding of our game model and be tighter as a group and so on. We’re definitely in that position.
“It’s been awesome for us, and we had a captured audience of what turned out to be 49 players. The result hurts, but I am proud of the effort, excited about where our game’s heading and knowing that we need to be better.
“When you play a great side like the Springboks….if you look at the numbers, it was a very even game tonight, bar the score.
“We probably conceded a bit chasing the game late but felt even with 15 to go we were right in it so we are disappointed but still really proud of the effort and feel that we’re tracking in the right direction.”
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While the All Blacks improved in the set-piece battle, they still felt short in several other areas, which allowed the Boks to gain the ascendancy in the fourth Test.
“I mean, the high ball put us under a little more heat again tonight. We couldn’t grab a lot of those,” Rennie added.
“I thought set-piece was excellent – our scrum and line-out, so I thought that was a real positive.
“We showed again that when we get our continuity going, we’re going to score tries. I think our line breaks were even.
“I thought South Africa were very good there. They were electric and really clinical when they got their opportunities. That was probably a key point.”
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