The All Blacks beat the Bulls 50-19 in their third and final warm-up game before their first Test against the Springboks.
All Blacks coach Dave Rennie chats with Willie Le Roux after his team beat the Bulls at Loftus on Saturday night. Picture: Johan Orton/Gallo Images
The All Blacks ticked many of the boxes they wanted to and delivered a good performance at altitude against the Bulls, but know the Springboks will be on a level above the South African opposition they have faced so far.
Coach Dave Rennie spoke of the Springboks’ quality being three-, four-, or even fivefold above that of the Stormers, Sharks, and Bulls, whom the New Zealanders beat in warm-up games played over eight days ahead of this Saturday’s first of four Tests against South Africa at Ellis Park.
The All Blacks beat the Stormers six tries to three (38-21) in Cape Town, the Sharks seven tries to none (54-0) in Durban and the Bulls Eight tries to three (50-19) in Pretoria.
Good discipline, strong set-piece
After Saturday night’s game, Codie Taylor, their third captain in as many matches, said the group had improved over the three games and were “set up nicely” for the Springboks.
The All Blacks will play the first Test before facing the Lions, also at Ellis Park, on Tuesday. Thereafter, two more Tests will be played in South Africa and the last one in the United States.
“50 points against a very good Bulls side is a positive,” Rennie said of the Pretoria union that features Springboks Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw and Johan Grobbelaar in their ranks.
“We played a team that was prepared to play today and really took it to us. I thought our set-piece was really strong, especially the scrum.
“Our discipline was a lot better tonight. We created so many opportunities – 11 line breaks to one. So we probably left a few points out there, which is a little frustrating. But I can’t fault the effort.
“And the number of boys who will be better after being able to run around in the altitude…”
All Blacks expect tougher matches against Springboks
Rennie said the improvements in the scrum were more due to technical adjustments rather than personnel changes, as they had the same front three who struggled against the Stormers.
When asked about his team’s readiness for the Springboks, he said, “We had a lot of opportunities tonight to play on top of the Bulls, force defenders to make decisions. It’s almost like we were training for the Springboks who come a lot harder defensively.
“We know the intensity level, the quality we will come up against next week is three, four, fivefold. But look, we’ve played reasonably well on tour, and we know we need to up the ante.”
