All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has neatly sidestepped an attempt by the Springboks to claim the moral high ground over the potential pace of play in Sunday’s first Test in Johannesburg.
Rennie has been hot on the topic of teams attempting to slow the All Blacks’ tempo since the victory over Ireland at Eden Park when at least one Irish forward went to ground with a suspiciously timed “injury” as the home side prepared to convert an attacking set piece into points.
He was asked about it before his squad travelled to South Africa and has touched on it during the three tour matches but has never publicly accused the Boks of time wasting (although he would be happy to make the issue front of mind for the Test match officials).
Never one to miss an opportunity to score points off the field himself, Rassie Erasmus countered this morning in a press conference alongside his referee advisor Jaco Peyper, a former Test official now firmly embedded in the Boks’ camp and proudly wearing the merchandise to prove it.
Peyper, the gamekeeper-turned-poacher, went into detail about how officials were aligned with the need to set a scrum or lineout within 30 seconds of the “mark” being made by a referee (scrum) or touch judge (lineout) but Rennie gave a quick chuckle when asked about the response, saying: “I’m not sure what Jaco would be referring to.
“We’ve played club sides [in South Africa] where it’s been very slow. One of the lineouts against the Sharks took 50 seconds to set. We found the Bulls had a much more positive mindset – there was a lot more ball in play. I’m anticipating the Springboks will feel the same way.”
Erasmus, as clever as ever, said he understood the reasons behind Rennie airing the issues in the media because the previous access coaches had with referees has now closed.
Now both coaches must be in the room with the referee – in this week’s case it would have been Englishman Matt Carley – and the rivals agreed a meeting with Carley would not be necessary.
Rennie confirmed that this morning but added a little jab of his own when specifically mentioning “time wasting”.
“They [match officials] sent out an email last week around the four key areas and one of them was the time wasting,” Rennie said.
“Rassie didn’t feel there was any need to meet and I feel the same way, to be honest. We’ve had conversations via email and we’ve got a summary sent to us this morning, so we’re pretty clear.”
The positivity around the All Blacks following their three victories in South Africa will be due in part to their preparation compared with the Boks, who last played on August 9, and probably due too to the adroit way Rennie is handling his press duties.
He is organised and concise and is striking the right balance between confidence and deference to the threat the world champions pose over the next four weeks. Interestingly, the Boks remain big favourites with the bookies but less so, in New Zealand anyway, than they were a few days ago.
Halfback Cam Roigard (calf) and wing Will Jordan (back) appear set to play at Ellis Park, with fullback Damian McKenzie (ankle) still a possibility, but the latest update on halfback Cortez Ratima was not as promising.
Ratima recently had a scan on a posterior cruciate ligament (knee) injury.
“We’re going to see how it is over the next 48 hours, so obviously we’re a little bit thin as it is at 9," Rennie said. "Getting Noah [Hotham] in will be good. We expect Cam to be ready to go at the weekend. We’ve still got KP [Kyle Preston] if Cortez is no good and we’d need Noah on the Tuesday [to play tour game against Lions].
Rennie, who will announce his team on Thursday night (NZT), said he was pleased with the amount of competition in the second row, with Fabian Holland, Josh Lord, Sam Darry and Patrick Tuipulotu competing for two starting spots, and the loose forwards, plus the outside backs.
Anton Segner has been a revelation in the No.7 jersey, with Peter Lakai also impressing.
Caleb Clarke has returned home, but Rieko Ioane, Leroy Carter and Josh Moorby have all made strong claims for the No.11 jersey.
Erasmus has previously made a show of naming his team on the Monday before a Test, but this week will announce it at the same time as the All Blacks. Skipper Siya Kolisi (hamstring) is still a concern.
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