All Blacks braced for ‘Boklash’ in Cape Town as Rennie expects ‘more of the same’ from Springboks

Dave Rennie has warned his players to prepare for a sharper Springboks performance in Saturday’s second Test at DHL Stadium in Cape Town.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of the crucial rematch in the Mother City, Rennie pointed directly to history when discussing what his side should expect from Rassie Erasmus’ charges.

“We are aware of the potential bounce-back,” Rennie revealed. “There has been a lot of talk around how they bounced back last year. We have also talked a lot about us being better than we were last weekend. Both teams can be a lot better. I would take a one-point win.”

However, Rennie does not anticipate a dramatic shift in Rassie Erasmus’ overall approach to the game.

“They will just try and do what they did last week but do it better,” he said. “Maybe put more balls in the air, get mauls going and spend as much time as they can in our 22.”

“They had plenty of time in our 22 but our energy kept them out. Our energy and scramble held them up over the line a couple of times,” he explained.

ALL BLACKS HAVE A PLAN TO COUNTER SPRINGBOKS BACKLASH

Rennie singled out the physical battle as the area where his side must show the greatest improvement in Test two.

“In the contact areas they were full of energy and we struggled to get forward,” he admitted. “They are big men and sometimes you just need to carry hard, win races and support well. It has been a focus. I’m not going to tell ‌you, tactically, how we’re doing that.”

“They’re big men, and when they’re full of energy, if ‌they can get into a tackle, it’s hard to get go-forward. But we still want to be able to play at a tempo that will give us opportunities. They did a really good job of denying us gain-line and lightning-quick ball early in that game.”

“We gave away soft penalties early in the game,” Rennie added. “We gave them easy entries into our 22.”

He also expressed confidence that his front row would perform better this time around: “Scrum-wise we had a couple of issues but we think our scrum will be a lot better.”

RENNIE BASHES WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS 

Rennie’s All Blacks usurped the Springboks as the world number ranked team in the world after last weekend’s win but they could relinquish top spot again with defeat in Cape Town.

However, the Kiwi boss made clear that the Test rankings and the permutations hold little value in his preparation.

“I am not remotely interested in the world rankings,” he said. “I don’t understand them, they seem to change on a whim.”

His focus, he insisted, remains entirely on Saturday’s contest: “Our focus is only on the game on Saturday,” Rennie said.

He confirmed three changes to his starting side, forced partly by concussion protocols affecting two players. Lock Josh Lord and prop Ethan de Groot both miss out through injury this weekend. Wing Leroy Carter comes into the side as Rennie’s only tactical change from Ellis Park.