Rennie warns All Blacks must raise intensity several-fold for Ellis Park Test

Dave Rennie has urged the All Blacks to sharpen significantly after their 50-point win over the Bulls in Pretoria, warning that the intensity they will face from the Springboks at Ellis Park next weekend is incomparable to anything encountered on the warm-up tour so far.

New Zealand have swept through three provincial opponents on Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour, putting 50 points on the Bulls, 54 on the Sharks, and 38 on the Stormers to extend their winning run to six matches heading into the four-Test series. Yet Rennie was measured in his assessment after the Bulls victory, acknowledging that his side left points on the field despite generating eleven line breaks to the hosts’ one.

“50 points against a very good Bulls side is a positive,” Rennie said post-match. “We created so many opportunities — eleven line breaks to one — so we probably left a few points out there, which is a little frustrating. But can’t fault the efforts, and a number of boys will be better for the opportunity to run around at altitude.”

The head coach identified the scrum as a genuine area of improvement, crediting assistant coach Jason Ryan for the gains made since the Stormers game. “It’s a result of just a lot of hard work, a couple of little technical things around the Stormers game that we’re doing better now,” Rennie said. “A lot of good work from Jason Ryan and his group.”

He also noted that the tour has served as useful preparation for the Springbok defensive system. “I thought we had a lot of opportunities tonight to really play on top of the Bulls and force defenders to make decisions, and it was almost like we were training for the Springboks. We’re coming a lot harder defensively, so it’s good for us.”

Stand-in captain Codie Taylor, who crossed twice on his first appearance of the tour, echoed his coach’s cautious optimism. “From where we started with the Stormers and built our way through these club games, I feel like we made some great strides as a forward pack — but by no means are we the finished product,” Taylor said. “There’s going to be so much more we can work on, and it’s going to be even tougher come next week. But we can be really happy and confident with the steps we’re making.”

Rennie’s message was unambiguous: the provincial wins have been useful preparation, but the All Blacks know they must shift gears considerably when they face South Africa in Johannesburg.