Online Reporter
STILL beaming from their win over the Springboks at Ellis Park on Saturday, All Black coach Dave Rennie warned his charges that a backlash is coming, and they should not get “carried away” with the win.
The New Zealanders stunned the Springboks, who looked in control of the game for the first 55 minutes, outsourcing them five tries to one and winning 33-16 — the biggest defeat of the Rassie Erasmus era in charge of the double World Cup winners.
And now with the focus moving to Cape Town’s second test on Saturday, Rennie is wary of a backlash — one that will be demanded by the Bok fans and management – or the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series will be one that will be lost after the first two games. While technically the Boks can still claim the last two test matches, most fans will see the series lost if the first two of three games in South Africa goes the way of the traditional foe. There is still disbelief in Springbok fan circles at how the side fell apart in the last 20 minutes, and the pressure is on for the Cape Town match now. And Rennie knows it. He knows all too well how much pressure will be on Erasmus and his team to uphold their proud record in front of their own fans at home, and especially since they also lost their No 1 world ranking on Saturday to the All Blacks.
So in naming his team to face the Lions tonight — the final midweek fixture of the tour where the All Blacks are looking to get a clean sweep against local URC franchises — Rennie urged caution going into the biggest week of the tour.
“Look, I think it’s important we don’t get carried away with it, and so we almost gotta reset and look forward,” he said.
“We’ll take a lot out of the game, though. I thought our leaders did a really good job of managing various situations. I thought we won a lot of key moments, both in defense and attack, and I think we’ve learnt a lot about ourselves, and so we’ll grow from that. I reckon we’ll be better this weekend, and I think South Africans will be, too.”
Rennie admitted this week would probably be the toughest on tour, training for the midweek game while preparing for a massive test and he said he expected the Boks to double down on their game plan and not make many changes. —The Fuse.
