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, outscoring 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 go 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.
PRESSURE RAMPING UP
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 on Tuesday night - 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 EXPECTS BOKS TO DOUBLE DOWN
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.
“Yeah, I mean, we haven't talked about it at all. Only things we've done today, with the group that played yesterday, everyone gathered when we named the team this morning,” Rennie explained.
“And then that team had a quick preview and trained, and the rest of the guys have been doing recovery. So I've had a chat with the captains, and we've got a leadership meeting this afternoon where we'll talk a little bit about what's important this week. But there's been no discussions yet with the players.
“I think they'll double down. They'll probably feel that they had the edge at scrum time. That aerial contest, again, they're very good in that area. They probably made a fair few errors uncharacteristically yesterday, and so I think they'll double down on that and try to do it better. “Look, they've got amazing depth here, so if they've lost a couple of players, they got plenty of guys who can fill in.”
MO’UNGA TAKES CENTRE STAGE
Rennie named a side filled with fringe players and those fit for the rest of the tour, but the biggest takeaway was the inclusion of Richie Mo’unga, who last played for the All Blacks in the World Cup final against South Africa in 2023.
“He's been phenomenal there. Actually, the guy who does a lot of skill acquisition work with us, Euan, he was based at Toshiba for the last couple of years. He has done a lot of work with Richie. And so I just think Richie's vision, decision stuff is next level. And hopefully we get to see a lot of it on the weekend. But yeah, he's as good if not better than when he left,” Rennie said, hinting at a bench role for Mo’unga in the second test.
Rennie also said it was good to have Mo’unga pushing flyhalf Ruben Love for the 10 jersey in the rest of the series.
“I think the good thing about those guys is they work a lot together. They're trying to help each other, and it's very much what's best for the team. And of course they all wanna play. But you gotta earn the right to be there. So Richie gets the chance to put a bit of pressure on tomorrow.”
The Lions game will be the final midweek match of the tour before both teams move to Cape Town on Wednesday.
ALL BLACKS – 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Fehi Fineanganofo, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 11 Emoni Narawa, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Noah Hotham, 8 Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, 7 Ethan Blackadder, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Patrick Tuipulotu, 4 Sam Darry, 3 Pasilio Tosi, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Siale Lauaki.
Bench: 16 Bradley Slater, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Saula Mau, 19 Jamie Hannah, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Josh Jacomb, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.