Rennie finds silver linings after All Blacks fall to 3-1 series defeat against Springboks

Dave Rennie conceded the All Blacks’ 3-1 series defeat to the Springboks was a bitter outcome but insisted his side are moving in the right direction after their fourth and final Test loss in Baltimore.

New Zealand clinched the series opener at Ellis Park before losing three straight to Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks, with Beauden Barrett’s late consolation try doing little to alter the final margin in the decider. It was the All Blacks’ third consecutive defeat to South Africa in 2026.

Speaking to former All Black Justin Marshall post-match, Rennie was keen to acknowledge the effort his players had put in throughout the series. “The boys put in a massive shift again,” he said. “You look at all the numbers, and everything’s very even, but they were electric, and when they got their opportunities — and we were trying to chase the game late — we put ourselves under a bit more pressure.”

The 62-year-old admitted that travelling to South Africa and the United States to face the world champions across four Tests was always going to be a steep challenge. “It’s disappointing because we had plans of winning a series, but the work ethic’s been excellent,” he said. “I knew coming here we would grow and learn a lot about each other, and that’s been awesome. Tonight will hurt, but we’ll wake up tomorrow moving in the right direction.”

Rennie highlighted set-piece improvement as a particular positive from the final Test, while acknowledging that New Zealand’s kicking game fell short of the standard required. “We probably didn’t kick as well as we wanted to tonight, and gave them a lot more space,” he said. “It’s a lot of small things we’ve been focusing on — our carry and clean, you’ve got to earn it against these guys.”

Despite the series result, Rennie pointed to the All Blacks’ attacking output as a foundation to build on. “What we know is we get our attack going, we get a bit of continuity, we can score — and I think we scored 17 tries in the four Tests,” he said. “We’ve got to do that consistently. I think we defended pretty well throughout the series, and yeah, I think we made really good strides.”

New Zealand were hurt late in Baltimore by what Rennie described as “flash bullies” from the Springboks, with quick ball off a clean feed creating the decisive damage. The All Blacks will now look to carry the lessons of the series into their next campaign.